Nico Hulkenberg is one of the most experienced and talented drivers on the current F1 grid, having competed in 196 Grand Prix weekends. Despite that, he’s unfortunately never been in a team that has been capable of fighting for wins and championships. At one point, the German was hopeful of signing for Red Bull. However, things never worked out for him, as he never got the impression that his talks with Helmut Marko got “serious” at any point.
After having spoken about the same a few weeks ago, Hulkenberg has made another startling revelation. As quoted by autosport.com, the 35-year-old has stated that Ferrari rejected him back in 2013 because of being “too tall“.
Many believe that Hulkenberg has all the talent to be a good fit for a top team like Red Bull. For example, F1 expert Peter Windsor believes that the Haas driver can be a perfect “wingman” for Max Verstappen. Similarly, Dutch journalist Erik van Haren believes that Hulkenberg can form a good partnership with Verstappen.
Van Haren stated that the same is possible because the two drivers have a fantastic relationship. Despite many considering Hulkenberg to be capable of driving for a top team, things never seem to have worked for the 35-year-old as he recently pointed out in an interview.
“Never clicked“: Hulkenberg on his failure to drive for a top team
In a recent interview, Nico Hulkenberg opened up on his failure to get an opportunity at one of the top teams. As quoted by autosport.com, the German began his remarks by admitting that at times he does feel “frustrated” to have driven for so long without getting the opportunity to finish on the podium.
While the 35-year-old believes that he has had cars that have been capable of fighting for podiums if not wins, for some reason it has “never clicked“. After stating the same, Hulkenberg also shed light on some of the opportunities he has had, and the strange reasons he received for rejection.
“I’ve never had an answer where [teams] said, ‘Sorry, no – we turned you down because you’re too tall’. 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“, explained Hulkenberg.
The report from autosport.com states that the current Haas driver made these remarks to refer to the time when he had links with Ferrari back in 2013. Interestingly, this is not the first time that Hulkenberg has opened up on his opportunity to miss the Ferrari seat.
Nico Hulkenberg claims he missed the Ferrari seat by “an inch“
While speaking to Tom Clarkson on F1’s Beyond the Grid (as quoted by planetf1.com) a few years ago, Nico Hulkenberg explained the margin by which he missed out on the Ferrari seat. “It was like an inch, I really don’t know how,” he explained.
Hulkenberg has one of the most unfortunate records in F1. He has made 193 Grand Prix starts but has never finished on the podium. In the same interview with Clarkson, the 35-year-old did state that this stat annoys him but he knows that he cannot change the past and regret his missed opportunities.
