Nico Hulkenberg spent three visits to the Dutch Grand Prix with nothing to show for them. On the fourth, in 2026, he finally scored: eighth place and four points, from thirteenth on the grid.Before that, his best was 11th in 2024, one place short of the points at a circuit where passing is close to impossible. It took him until his fourth attempt to get past it.
Eleventh, and the story of a career
The 2024 race leaves a bitter taste. Out of twelfth place on the starting line, eleventh at the end, and being lapped by the race leaders at the flag, with the finishing position just above the last of the points finishers. After more than 200 Grand Prix races and without a podium finish, the racer ranks the 2024 Zandvoort as another missed opportunity.The other two events were less painful. Twelfth in the furthest back fourteenth position in 2023 and then moving to the fourteenth position after finishing from seventeenth place in 2025 in the Sauber car.
Four visits, three teams, one reward
Hulkenberg missed the first two runnings of the modern Dutch Grand Prix entirely, because he was out of a full time seat when the race returned in 2021. By the time he was back on the grid properly in 2023, Zandvoort had already settled into a pattern that suited the front of the field and nobody else. It took him until his fourth attempt to break out of it.
Be that as it may, for three years the record was what it was. No points from three attempts, and a best grid slot of twelfth.
2026: the zero finally goes
It took four attempts. Hulkenberg qualified thirteenth for Audi in 2026 and finished eighth, five places up, for his first points at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Four points is a modest number, and he was lapped by the leaders on the way to collecting them. It still closes one of the odder gaps in a career of more than 250 starts: the driver who had raced almost everywhere had never scored at Zandvoort. Now he has.
Nico Hülkenberg's Dutch GP record year by year
| Season | Grid | Finish | Points | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 14 | P12 | 0 | Haas |
| 2024 | 12 | P11 | 0 | Haas |
| 2025 | 17 | P14 | 0 | Sauber |
| 2026 | 13 | P8 | 4 | Audi |
Business finally finished
For three years, and despite a career spanning well over a decade, Hulkenberg had never scored at the Dutch Grand Prix. There is still no podium, no pole and no fastest lap here, but the zero in the points column is finally gone.
Hulkenberg's Dutch Grand Prix record is four races long and, at the fourth attempt, finally worth something on the scoreboard.
