Nicolas Hülkenberg
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| Nico Hülkenberg | |
 Hülkenberg at the Malaysian round of the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season |
|
| Nationality |  German |
| Date of Birth | August 19, 1987 |
| Place of Birth | Emmerich am Rhein, Germany |
| 2008 F3 Euroseries | |
| Debut season | 2007 |
| Current team | ART Grand Prix |
| Car No. | 1 |
| Starts | 26 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Poles | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| Best finish | 3rd (72 pts) in 2007 |
| Previous series | |
| 2006-07 2006 2005 |
A1 Grand Prix F3 Germany ATS Cup Formula BMW ADAC |
| Championship titles | |
| 2006-07 2007 2005 |
A1 Grand Prix w/(Vietoris) F3 Masters Formula BMW ADAC |
Nicolas "Nico" Hülkenberg (born August 19, 1987 in Emmerich am Rhein, Germany) is a professional racecar driver. Hülkenberg made his karting debut in 1997, at the age of 10. In 2002 he was German Junior Karting Champion and the following year he won the German Kart Championship. [1]
2005 saw his debut in German Formula BMW. His first season was a very successful one, with Hülkenberg dominating the championship and winning the title comfortably. He finished first in the Formula BMW world final but was stripped of the win after it was claimed he had brake-tested his rivals during a safety car period. [1]
Hülkenberg moved up to Formula 3 for 2006, winning one round in the German championship. He also joined the German A1 Grand Prix team for the 2006-07 season. Nine wins in his rookie season made him the most successful driver in A1GP history. It meant he almost single-handedly won Germany the championship with 128 points, 35 more than Team New Zealand. [1]
For 2007 he switched to the F3 Euroseries with the ASM team that had taken Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta to the last two championships. His first win came at the Norisring [1] from 18th on the grid, he won again in the rain at Zandvoort [2] and added a third at the Nürburgring.[3] But he ran into trouble at Magny-Cours, being penalised in qualifying for passing the chequered flag twice, and crashing into Filip Salaquarda in the race. [1]
He won the (non-championship) Ultimate Masters of Formula 3 race at Zolder from team mate (and F3 Euroseries championship leader) Romain Grosjean after the Swiss stalled at the start. [4]
Hülkenberg is currently managed by Willi Weber, the long-time manager of Michael Schumacher. Weber has gone on record saying that Hülkenberg would be ready for Formula One by 2008. He has also praised Hülkenberg as an "unbelievable talent" and says he reminds him of Schumacher as a young driver.[5]
Hülkenberg completed a Formula One test in 2007. Willi Weber confirmed that he was in contact with Renault boss Flavio Briatore about organising a first F1 test for the young German, but he finally got his chance to test for an F1 team in December 4, 2007; when he was given a seat by Williams at Jerez. The two-day test went well. He outpaced Kazuki Nakajima, the official driver for Williams-Toyota next year, on the first day and was only 0.4 seconds slower than Nico Rosberg. His flawless performance in the test impressed the Williams F1 team and secured himself a test driver seat in the team for 2008. [6]
[edit] Racing record
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing |
| 2005 | Formula BMW ADAC | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 20 | 8 | 9 | 287 | 1st |
| 2006 | German Formula Three | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 18 | 3 | 1 | 78 | 5th |
| 2006/07 | A1 Grand Prix | Team Germany | 10 | 3 | 9 | 126 | 1st |
| 2007 | Formula Three Euroseries | Team ASM Formule 3 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 72 | 3rd |
| 2008 | Formula Three Euroseries | ART Grand Prix | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14* | 5th* |
*Championship in progress
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Meet the rookies: Nico Hülkenberg. F1Fanatic.co.uk (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ F3 Euro Zandvoort 2: Hülkenberg wins in wet. MaximumMotorsport.co.uk (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ F3 Euro Nürburgring 1: Hülkenberg dominates. MaximumMotorsport.co.uk (2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
- ^ Hülkenberg wins F3 Masters as Grosjean stalls. MaximumMotorsport.co.uk (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ Weber: he's the next Schumi!. Overdrive (2006-12-05). Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
- ^ Williams sign Hulkenberg as test driver. autosport.com (2007-12-13). Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sebastian Vettel |
German Formula BMW Drivers' Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by Christian Vietoris |
| Preceded by Nicolas Lapierre Alexandre Prémat (Team France) |
A1 Grand Prix Champion with Christian Vietoris (Team Germany) 2006-07 |
Succeeded by Neel Jani (Team Switzerland) |
| Preceded by Paul di Resta |
Formula Three Masters winner 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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