Hulkenberg shows true colours after beating Lewis Hamilton to first-ever podium
Nico Hulkenberg has jokingly apologised to the Silverstone crowd after he secured his first podium finish, beating Lewis Hamilton to third place at the British Grand Prix. Hulkenberg began his F1 career back in 2010 with Williams, but had to wait until his 239th start for a first podium.
The German finished just 5.07 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who had to settle for fourth and has now surpassed his longest wait for a podium finish. Hamilton has not been in the top three since finishing second in Las Vegas 14 races ago.
And Hulkenberg light-heartedly apologised to the crowd for denying Hamilton a spot on the podium in his home race. "It feels good. It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? But I always knew we have it in us, I have it in me, somewhere," Hulkenberg said after the race.
"What a race. Coming from virtually last, doing it all over again from last weekend. It's pretty surreal, to be honest. I'm not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy, mixed conditions.
"It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. I think we just were really on it with the right calls, the right tyres in the right moment, made no mistakes - quite incredible.
"I was in denial until probably the last pit stop, but then when I heard we gapped Lewis quite a bit with the one extra lap, I was like, 'ok, this is good, this is some breathing space.' But then he was catching quite quickly, so the pressure was there.
"It was an intense race but we didn't crack, no mistakes, and obviously really, really happy with that. I was thinking that he's going to give it all in front of his home crowd, and I was like, 'sorry guys, but it's also my day.' I had to stick my neck out. I'm super happy."
Although Hamilton missed out on a podium finish at Sliverstone, fellow Brit Lando Norris won his home Grand Prix for the first time and was absolutely delighted with the victory. "It is beautiful," Norris said after the race.
"Apart from a Championship, this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings. Incredible race, stressful as always but the support from the fans made the difference, so I have to thank them.
"The main thing is don't f*** it up, that is rule number one. It might never happen again, hope it does, but these are memories I'll have forever.
"As far as being a stressful race, it's as stressful as it gets. A round of applause for Oscar as he put in a good race, he was fast. Credit to him and of course McLaren, to win at home is pretty amazing."
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