Nico Hulkenberg continued Sauber’s points scoring streak in Formula 1 after making it into the top 10 for the second successive race weekend at the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix.
After recording a sensational fifth-placed finish for the Hinwil-based squad in Barcelona, Hulkenberg slotted his C45 into eighth at the chequered flag last weekend in Montreal.
The German started the 70-lap race 11th, but ended the opening lap in ninth as he capitalised on Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto squabbling at Turn 8, the former running wide.
“The first lap was decent, I was more or less in my position, but Franco and Alex were having a go at each other,” Hulkenberg told media including Motorsport Week. “They had a problem in Turn 8 and 9, both went a bit deep.
“So I managed to get them on the exit, which was obviously pretty handy and I think also pretty key for the race to just be ahead, to then manage my tyres from there on and just bring that one in.”
Hulkenberg managed to execute a one-stop strategy, pitting on Lap 19, and came home to bag four points for Sauber after the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri clashed in the closing stages, bringing out the Safety Car.
The 37-year-old reflected on the team’s back-to-back points-scoring finishes by crediting the upgrades brought to the car at the Spanish GP weekend.
“It feels good, it feels very positive, very happy, of course, to continue that trend and carry the momentum into here and onwards from here. But I think at the end of the day it’s down to the performance, the upgrade,” he explained.
Sauber brought a revised floor to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as part of its aggressive developmental strategy this season. Hulkenberg believes that this has started paying dividends and has established the team strongly in the midfield battle.
“I think all the work from the last few months or the last six months is kind of paying off a bit. You see a paying dividends, which is obviously a rewarding feeling, very nice, and how it should be,” he suggested.
“So, we need to keep doing what we’re doing and in the meantime hopefully we can find a bit more performance in the next couple of weeks.”
Hulkenberg outlines room for improvement with Sauber upgrades
Despite a stark upturn in out-and-out performance for Sauber since the Spanish Grand Prix, Hulkenberg believes the team is yet to optimise the revised C45 over one lap.
In Barcelona, Hulkenberg failed to progress into Q3, while he also missed out at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, going out in the second segment once again.
“It’s showing some good performance and promise in the race again, I think more maybe than in quali,” he said regarding the car’s performance.
Hulkenberg also deliberated whether the upgrades favoured high-speed tracks like Barcelona over Montreal, while asserting that more work needed to be done to optimise the package.
“Yeah, maybe the car was a little bit happier in the high-speed stuff. Obviously Barcelona… in here is a lot more low-speed and quite a bumpy circuit as well. So yeah, we made an improvement, but we still got lots of area that we can work and improve. So yeah, it continues to be a work in progress.”
Looking forward to the Austrian Grand Prix, Hulkenberg was cautiously optimistic but expects the team to keep raking in strong results.
“I think quali, somewhere in the Q2, if it all goes brilliant, maybe we can squeeze it into the top 10. But as always, it depends on the weekend,” he concluded.
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