Nico Hülkenberg has already brought a lot to the Sauber team with his experience: James Key praises the strong feedback that is helping the Swiss team move forward.
The signing of Nico Hülkenberg paid off for Sauber after just the first race. While the rookies had major problems in rainy Australia, Hülkenberg kept his cool and used his experience to secure an enormously important seventh place for the Swiss racing team.
With the six points, the German has already scored more points than the Sauber team did in the entire previous season. But the 37-year-old proves his worth not only inside the car, but also outside, as technical director James Key emphasizes.
“He has been brilliant to work with so far,” he says, praising the first few weeks with his new driver. ”All the calm experience he has to draw on when he sits down and gives a very clear assessment of things has been really, really valuable.”
What Key particularly appreciates about Hülkenberg is his keen awareness of everything around him. Thanks to his experience, he is able to convey “every feeling in the cockpit, the slightest nuances in handling and balance” with precision. “To be honest, that’s the best feedback the team has had in a long time,” emphasizes Key.
“He brings a fresh perspective to certain areas, and that is already enabling us to explore new directions that we hadn’t even considered before,” he says. While Sauber has not yet been able to respond to everything directly, ‘we already have a few things in the works to use his feedback from the tests and from here.’
New front wing helped
Sauber had already “significantly improved” between the test drives in Bahrain and Melbourne, as Hülkenberg himself notes. The car still had some balance issues in Bahrain that were significantly better in Australia. “In the days and weeks after Bahrain, we found some things that were not ideal or optimal,” the German confirms.
What a way to start the season AusGP pic. twitter.com/qOtDGXaV5I
— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) March 16, 2025
“The configuration we had was not optimal. Also, not all the parts we ran in Bahrain were really designed for the 2025 C45 car,” he says. ”For example, the front wing in Bahrain was from the previous year. It was only in Melbourne that we got the new front wing for both cars because development on it was pushed ahead. That improved a few things.”
Opportunity seized
Nevertheless, he is well aware that there is still a lot to be done at Sauber if the team is to have a regular chance of finishing in the top 10 under its own steam. He makes no secret of this: “Of course, without the crazy safety car circumstances and the changing conditions, the race would not have ended with us in seventh place.”
“That’s clear, and we have to be realistic.”
“But that’s racing – you have to take your chances when they arise,” he says. And that’s what Sauber did in Melbourne. “That’s why it was nice to take this result with us.”
Sauber on the wrong side of midfield
In China, however, the team will have to face the harsh reality again and start from scratch. Since it is not supposed to rain and the Shanghai International Circuit is a “normal” race track again, Sauber should be able to assess its realistic position again. But it remains to be seen where that is.
Because the team was not as without a chance as many had assumed in the run-up to the race in Melbourne. Although Hülkenberg got stuck in Q1 in qualifying, his rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto had made it into Q2.
“We weren’t that far off,” Hülkenberg has to admit. But nobody really knows what the race trim will be like in the dry. ‘But my feeling is that the midfield is very close. But at the moment we are probably still on the wrong side of it.’
