Nico Hulkenberg admits he’s been waiting 10 years to discover if F1 team will offer him a seat

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Nico Hulkenberg has made a shocking revelation that one of Formula 1’s biggest teams has left him waiting for a decision on a seat for nearly 10 years.

Back in 2013, Hulkenberg enjoyed a breakout second half of the season with Sauber, finishing 10th in the drivers’ championship.

He nearly made the podium with a fourth-placed finish at Korea, and then found himself ready to make a decision on the next step of his career.

Force India (now Aston Martin) was one of the teams to make him an offer, and he picked them to race for over the next three seasons – but even now, he’s still waiting for a response from one team for a 2014 drive.

Who has Nico Hulkenberg been waiting on a response from?

One of Hulkenberg’s biggest frustrations of his career is that he has failed to score a podium across his 219 starts.

A man of his talent should undoubtedly have achieved a top three, and maybe even a victory, but he has never quite found the right situation to do so.

It has now emerged that he was on the radar of Ferrari for a seat back in 2014, which may have seen him achieve the feat nearly a decade ago, if things had gone his way.

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When asked by the German Press Association, via FAZ, if he had spoken to ex-Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali about reasons for not being picked for a drive in 2014, he said: “Not yet,”

“Because he still says: ‘Not yet, come later.’

“I don’t know [when I will get an answer], I don’t have a crystal ball,” he added.

Will Hulkenberg ever achieve a first Formula 1 podium?

Carlos Sainz holds the record for the most races before achieving a podium with 101, which would be smashed out of the park by Hulkenberg’s current tally of 219 (or more by the time he achieves it).

Next year, he moves to Sauber ahead of Audi‘s highly anticipated takeover of the Hinwil outfit for 2025, where the German outfit have hired him to bring speed and experience from the get-go.

READ MORE: Guenther Steiner shares what was ‘perfect’ about Kimi Antonelli’s Monza weekend

He’s yet to find out who will partner him at the team, but names such as Theo Pourchaire, Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas have all been linked with the seat.

With the investment that the company brings, and the talent that they have acquired, new team boss Mattia Binotto will be hoping that 2026 is the year where they can immediately compete for podiums.

That’s a tall order, but with nearly 15 years of Formula 1 experience, Hulkenberg is well aware of what it takes to make a car fast enough to consistently compete at the front.