Nico Hulkenberg insists he is not “bitter or frustrated” at the fact he remains without a podium finish in his decade-long Formula 1 career.
Hulkenberg made his F1 debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix and is set to reach the 200 GP mark by the end of the season.
The German has achieved a best result of fourth on three occasions but never quite managed to go one better through a series of near misses.
Arguably his best shot at a podium came in Brazil 2012 when he led for more than 40 laps before colliding with Lewis Hamilton whilst battling for the lead.
It means Hulkenberg holds the record for the most grand prix starts without standing on the podium, 65 clear of the next highest Adrain Sutil.
But when asked if he was ever frustrated at the lack of silverware over his 10 seasons in F1, Hulkenberg stressed he was at peace with his career.
“That’s stating a fact there,” Hulkenberg said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“Obviously, when you start thinking about it that’s a little bit frustrating. Because every racing driver back then and even now wants to win, ideally. But at the same time, I’ve never had the car.
“I’ve had good cars and also had opportunities to deliver the podium, but then for various reasons it never really happened. Never clicked and happened.
“But, to be honest, I’m still in a good, happy place – enjoying myself. And if I reflect back, of course there were things I could’ve done better.
“But I’m not bitter or frustrated about it. I’m in a good place and going to hit I think 200 grands prix later in the season – somewhere around Mexico [in October].
“And whilst not having the podium, I think if I would be so bad I would’ve not managed to stick around [for] 200 grands prix – so, there must be some good in there too somewhere.”
Hulkenberg, who returned to the grid with Haas in 2023 after a three-year absence, felt the the unwanted record of most races without a podium actually speaks for his racing ability.
“I’m here in the current Formula 1 season, working day-in, day-out and trying to maximise the season,” he said.
“I have to maximise what I have. And the opportunities in the past, unfortunately they didn’t work. Of course, that was very frustrating at the time, but that is what it is.
“There is that and someone told me the other day there is this statistic ‘most races without a podium’.
“But there is another statistic like ‘most points without a victory or without a podium in F1’ [Hulkenberg has 530, ahead of Sutil’s 124]. My point is that statistic speaks for me, actually.”
Despite tasting success in junior disciplines and scoring a pole position in his rookie season, Hulkenberg never managed to secure a drive in a front-running team.
The closest Hulkenberg came to moving to a leading outfit was with Ferrari in 2013, but the Italian squad opted to sign Kimi Raikkonen instead.
Although Ferrari gave no definitive answer about why it decided against signing Hulkenberg, the Haas driver believes his height has been a constant obstacle in why he has always been overlooked for a top seat.
“I’ve never had an answer where [teams] said, ‘Sorry, no – we turned you down because you’re too tall’,” said Hulkenberg. “Probably they wouldn’t tell me straight to my face.
“But I’m pretty sure that it has, yeah, hindered the odd opportunity and occasion to jump to a top car.
“Packaging issues, less space, more weight, which is not the right way around in this business.”
