Amid Recent Fan Backlash, Is Nico Hulkenberg Really “Mid”?

Few drivers can boast of a career in Formula 1 as diverse as Nico Hulkenberg’s. While Hulkenberg may not have raced for a top-flight team, he has mostly stayed in mid-table teams. Despite faring well at almost every team he’s raced for, he’s been shown the exit door almost unfairly most of the time.

The problem with consistency in Formula 1 is that it makes you look boring. That is exactly the syndrome Nico Hulkenberg has suffered from in his entire career. Now that going to replace Mick Schumacher at Haas next season, the infamous tag has returned to haunt him.

Is Haas’ decision to go with Nico Hulkenberg really a step backward?

After two years of underwhelming performances and the wrecking of cars, Haas has finally shown Mick Schumacher the exit door. Ever since the news broke, fans did not take well to it. Moreover, the man set to replace Mick, Nico Hulkenberg, is being subjected to some undue criticism.

Nico Hulkenberg may not be the fastest driver on the grid, but he is reliable. Hulkenberg brings in a ton of experience and consistency with him, which is exactly what Haas needs. They need a driver who can score enough points to keep them afloat in the mid-table, and not crash the car too often. While Nico has time and again delivered on both those fronts with different teams, he hasn’t had the best of luck.

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Nico started out in F1 with Williams in 2010. In his rookie season, he surprised everyone when he secured the team’s first pole position in 5 years. The feat was however insufficient for him to keep the seat next season. After spending a season as a reserve driver at Force India, Nico got a promotion to race as a regular in 2012. It was an impressive season for the German as he finished 11th in the drivers’ standings 3 places ahead of his teammate Paul di Resta and 2 places ahead of F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

An illustrious career marred by some bad luck

Apparently, beating Michael Schumacher wasn’t enough for Nico to keep his seat next year. The following year (2013), Hulkenberg, racing for Sauber, finished in 10th, ahead of both Force India drivers, and outperformed his teammate Esteban Gutierrez by a whopping 45 points. Nico bagged 51 points while his teammate could only manage 6.

In 2014, Nico returned to Force India, racing alongside current Red Bull driver Sergio Perez. He outperformed Checo as well, finishing the season 9th with 96 points. In the following two years, Checo fared better than his German teammate, which made the team replace Nico with young Esteban Ocon.

In 2017, Hulkenberg raced for Renault alongside Carlos Sainz. He beat his Spanish teammate in the points tally in 2018. An underwhelming 2019 season saw him bow out of the regular drivers’ list.

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Hulkenberg has waited two years for his luck to shine. Do you think he will return to his consistent self next year for Haas? Or has warming the bench for 2 years made him rusty?