Anthony Davidson snubs Nico Hulkenberg to name surprising rival F1 driver as his ‘best of the rest’

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Nico Hulkenberg has been one of the standout drivers so far in the 2025 F1 season, having scored 37 of Sauber’s 43 points this year ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Yet the 37-year-old has not been the ‘best of the rest’ outside of the drivers for the top four teams as far as Anthony Davidson and Jamie Chadwick are concerned. They have both gone against fellow Sky Sports pundit Bernie Collins, who took Hulkenberg as her best of the rest.

Hulkenberg joined Sauber for the 2025 F1 season after agreeing to a multi-year contract for Audi to lead the team’s transformation into the German automotive giant’s factory squad in 2026. His move from Haas to Hinwil, Switzerland has paid off massively for Hulkenberg, too.

The updates that Sauber took to Barcelona helped Hulkenberg get his best result in six years with fifth place in the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. Yet after taking six years to match his last P5 result, Sauber also saw Hulkenberg secure his first F1 podium with P3 in the 2025 British GP.

Anthony Davidson snubs Nico Hulkenberg to name Alex Albon as his ‘best of the rest’

Hulkenberg has also relished his new role as a mentor for rookie Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber this season. But Davidson and Chadwick both believe Williams star Alex Albon is the ‘best of the rest’ so far this year, having led the Grove natives alongside new teammate Carlos Sainz.

READ MORE: Williams star Alex Albon’s life outside F1 with net worth, girlfriend to parents

Williams took full advantage of Ferrari releasing Sainz to sign Lewis Hamilton to get the four-time Grand Prix winner. Yet while Albon has secured 54 points through the first 13 rounds of the year, Sainz only has 16 ahead of the Hungarian GP after struggling to adapt to the FW47.

The Hungarian GP marks the last race before the summer break, so Davidson, Chadwick and Collins have been in a reflective mood. And while Collins hailed Hulkenberg’s results, her Sky Sports colleagues sided with Albon after scoring points in nine of the 13 Grands Prix to date.

Davidson told Sky Sports’ The F1 Show: “No, [I haven’t picked Hulkenberg]. I went for Alex Albon because he’s quite literally the best of the rest in the championship standings. I just looked down the championship, and said yeah.

“It actually surprised me where he is. He sits behind what I consider to be the best cars out there, the Ferraris, the McLarens, the Mercedes [and a Red Bull].

“There’s no more that Albon can do in the drivers’ championship at the moment. He hasn’t had an easy car to drive this year. They [Williams] have had a lot of bad luck. But, still, Albon somehow finds himself as the best of the rest.”

Chadwick added: “I completely agree. I think the other measure of that is how he stacks up against Carlos Sainz, who is obviously highly rated coming from Ferrari.

“And I think the fact that Carlos needs very smooth weekends, nothing going wrong, just to be able to match and be on the level with Alex shows the level that Alex is operating at.”

Alex Albon only lacks Nico Hulkenberg’s headline result of a podium finish in 2025

Hulkenberg has the headline result for a midfield driver so far this year with his first podium finish at the 239th time of asking at Silverstone. But Albon has also stood out, with his three P5 finishes in Australia, Miami and Imola and also a P6 in the Belgian Grand Prix last Sunday.

READ MORE: Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height

While Sainz is a race winner, the Spaniard only has points from six Grands Prix with Williams so far. The 30-year-old’s best results are even his P8 finishes in the Saudi Arabian and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix. Sainz also took P6 in the Spa Sprint, while Albon has no Sprint points.

Albon astounded Damon Hill defending from Hamilton in the Belgian GP, too, as the London-born Thai took P6 by 0.753s. The 29-year-old’s 54 points for eighth place in the F1 drivers’ standings are even crucial to Williams sitting fifth and above Sauber in the teams’ standings.