A new season of F1 always brings fresh hopes to drivers looking to better themselves from the performances of the previous year. Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll, however, will be amongst the ones who would desperately look to steer clear of a record they wouldn’t particularly be proud of breaking.
Hulkenberg, an F1 veteran, has been part of the grid since 2010. To date, he has taken part in 227 races, driving for Williams, Force India, Renault, Aston Martin, Haas, and Sauber. But he has never won a race, which makes him the F1 driver to have started the most number of races without taking a win.
In 2025, with a 24-race season looming, this number will be 250. 251 to be exact, if Hulkenberg takes part in every single race.
Stroll, on the other hand, believe it or not, has been in F1 for over seven years now. While he has been a rather invisible figure in the sport, likely due to his lack of success despite being around for so long, the fact that he has 166 race starts is quite an achievement.
But the Canadian driver has also never stood on the top step of a podium. And after the conclusion of the 2025 season, he will rise to third in the list which Hulkenberg leads at the moment.
While it seems fairly unrealistic for the two to stop themselves from heading towards these numbers, let us take a look and see if they stand an outside chance to avoid it.
Hulkenberg’s new team
Hulkenberg has changed teams ahead of the 2025 season, and will now drive for Sauber, who will soon become Audi, and were looking for a German driver to fill their ranks. While their project for the future looks ambitious, currently, the team is a mess.
Sauber have been backmarkers for close to a decade now, and nothing suggests that this will change this season. In fact, if anything, Sauber will have a completely quiet campaign, with the focus being on developing the 2026 Audi challenger.
All Hulkenberg could be asked to do is gather valuable data to make sure the team is in a good place while planning for the future.
*Hülkenberg has been added to the group chat*
We’re excited to announce Nico Hülkenberg will join Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber for the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/1DLNcBBL8j
— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) April 26, 2024
Safe to say that a Hulkenberg race win in F1 in 2025 can be written off. Sad for the 37-year-old, who has also never stood on the podium once in his career. This is something Stroll can boast about.
Can Stroll do it?
On paper, Stroll has a much more realistic chance of sneaking in a race win. Aston Martin is in a much better place, and although they aren’t going to be the fastest, they are expected to be right behind those gunning for wins. So, a couple of safety cars and a handful of retirements could present Stroll with an opportunity.
But is he willing to take it? That’s the big question.
Over the last few weeks, Stroll’s commitment to the sport has been heavily questioned with entities like Kym Illman insisting that his mind is not on succeeding F1. In Stroll’s time in F1 so far, he has achieved just three podium finishes, and all have been third-placed. In 2023, however, a season where his teammate Fernando Alonso finished in the top three eight times, Stroll did not get a single podium.
Adrian Newey is now at Aston Martin, and although he may not have the chance to have a direct effect on the 2025 car in the beginning stages, the legendary aerodynamicist could turn them into a Championship-winning outfit soon. How Stroll takes that opportunity, remains to be seen.
