The race started on a wet and tricky Silverstone track. Hulkenberg began all the way back in 19th place on the grid. At first, he struggled with his tyres and started losing time. But on Lap 9, as more rain began to fall, and the German made a quick decision to enter the pits.

“I was just dropping back – I was really struggling with that first set,” Hulkenberg, quoted by Motorsport Week, explained. “The team said the rain is coming, and I just dived into the pits, to be honest, without thinking too much at the time.”

That moment on Lap 9 proved to be the turning point. Hulkenberg changed to a fresh set of intermediate tyres just as the rain began to fall harder. The timing was perfect. While other drivers waited longer or missed the best moment, Sauber reacted quickly and gained a huge advantage.

“I think they could not have been better,” Hulkenberg said about his team. “We pitted at the perfect time every single time, which is very rare and kind of difficult to do, but that’s just how it happened today.”

After the pit stop, Hulkenberg jumped up the order and found himself in fourth place. He then overtook Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin once DRS was enabled, taking third. That’s when the dream started to feel real.

“I passed Lance, then Lewis passed Lance pretty quickly too,” Hulkenberg said. “But I was able to keep him behind and even pull away a bit when the Intermediates started to wear more and more. That was really encouraging.”

The final challenge came when the track dried and drivers had to change to slick tyres. Ferrari pitted Lewis Hamilton first, hoping he could jump ahead. But the track was still a little wet, and Hamilton ran wide on his out lap. Sauber decided to wait one more lap before bringing Hulkenberg in.

“We waited, we kept our powder dry,” said Sauber team boss Jonathan Wheatley. “We weren’t the first to go, we were watching very carefully what the other drivers did and I think we got the timing right on that.”

Hulkenberg agreed that this second pit stop was just as important. “We made a really good call by stopping one lap later than he did for the slicks, and we gained I think around 10 seconds. That gap was crucial.”

From that point on, Hulkenberg focused on staying calm and keeping the car on track. With Hamilton chasing hard behind, it was all about control and focus.

“It was a very intense race,” Hulkenberg admitted. “In these conditions, you always feel like with one foot you’re in the wall when you’re pushing. From almost last yesterday to a podium today – it’s kind of surreal. It’s going to take a few days to process everything.”

In the end, Hulkenberg crossed the line in third place, five seconds ahead of Hamilton, and finally broke his long record of 238 races without a podium. “Everything coming together, big relief, very happy, very positive day,” Hulkenberg said with a smile. “This means a lot.”