Nico Hulkenberg Interview: Talking Le Mans and His Formula 1 Future

MONTREAL — It is one of the great mysteries of the modern world, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster: Why has the extremely talented Nico Hulkenberg spent his entire Formula One career languishing with midfield teams while other drivers have progressed up the grid?

For some insight, we turned to the man himself who, in addition to his F1 duties with Force India, is channelling his inner Graham Hill or Jacky Ickx and racing in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche.

As Hulkenberg sits in Force India's hospitality area in the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve's paddock, ready to begin the interview, he playfully, repeatedly thwarts a photographer's attempt to snap a photo of him.

After some chatter about flights and jet lag, with the 27-year-old German stretching and yawning, he drops his hat on the table—flat-brimmed, like Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and the other cool kids are wearing—and shifts into interview mode: sitting upright, speaking with a loud, clear voice. His sunglasses, Ray-Bans, stay on.

"It's about timing," he says pragmatically when asked the reasons for his career's slow progression. "Obviously it's a time where we have a lot of good drivers on the market and the market is very competitive and there's only a limited amount of seats in the top teams.

"Look at the three big teams—they don't have bad drivers in there, so it's not easy for them to change it and say, 'Put Hulkenberg in there,' because they're doing a good job, too, and it's just how things fall.

"But I am a fighter and I will keep fighting and I think eventually I will get my opportunity."

He does not seem bitter, or even disappointed, despite his near misses. From 2010 to 2014, he moved from Williams to Force India to Sauber and then back to Force India but somehow seemed to miss those teams' best years along the way—Sauber in 2012, for example, or Williams' recent rise back up the grid.

Andre Penner/Associated Press

In 2013, in the midst of an impressive finish to the season in a disappointing Sauber car, according to the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport (h/t NBC Sports), Hulkenberg was ready to sign a Ferrari contract, only to have the team pull it and sign Kimi Raikkonen at the last minute.

"You never really know how close you are," Hulkenberg says. "You only have the deal when it's signed and it wasn't signed."

That same year, it seemed then-Lotus team principal Eric Boullier wanted to sign the German, per his comments to Autosport's Jonathan Noble (this was back when Lotus had a race-winning car). Instead, the team brought in Pastor Maldonado and his Venezuelan millions.

"Maybe a bit unlucky or unfortunate timing," Hulkenberg offers. "Maybe in hindsight the move to Sauber—not to disregard that year—but maybe if I'd stayed at Force India, that could have been a change to my career. The 2013 Force India at the beginning of the year was a very good car, and at Sauber, we were struggling initially but then getting better in the second half.

"Every career is different and decisions were made for good reasons at the various times. You never have guarantees and obviously it hasn't played out perfectly, but on the other side, I think I'm still a lucky guy—I'm still in F1, doing what I love."

And despite his cameo in the World Endurance Championship at Le Mans (he also raced at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in May), Hulkenberg makes it very clear where his focus lies when asked whether he would consider a move to another series.

"You never know what happens a few years down the line. For sure it's attractive racing and WEC has developed into a really good racing format, but my head is still thinking around Formula One."

And he adds: "I'm not thinking outside of F1 at the moment."

David Vincent/Associated Press

The 2015 season has been a struggle so far for Hulkenberg and his team-mate Sergio Perez. Force India is short on cash, and following delays that limited their pre-season testing, the car's first major update was pushed back until after the Austrian Grand Prix on June 21.

Despite just one points-scoring finish in the season's first six races (Perez had three and Hulkenberg would score again in Canada), Hulkenberg is bullish about the team's chances for the rest of the year.

"It is realistic for us to chase that fifth place [in the constructors' championship]. The season is still relatively young, we still have many, many races to go and we're not far away from our main competition now," he says.

"After [Austria] we get the upgrade and that's hopefully when our season really kick-starts and we turn things around, so if all goes to plan after that, we can really challenge for fifth place and push in the second half of the season."

After the Canadian Grand Prix, Force India is tied with Sauber for sixth, two points behind Lotus. Fifth in the constructors' standings would be the team's best-ever finish (they were sixth in three of the last four years).

Of Perez, who has had an up-and-down career of his own, Hulkenberg says: "We are both very ambitious and competitive drivers, both at a similar stage in our careers. We're pushing each other really hard, which is good for ourselves, good for the team, and we're really getting the best out of ourselves. We have a healthy relationship—we are competitive, but we get along personally, as well."

In 2014, Hulkenberg outscored Perez 96 to 59, although the Mexican grabbed Force India's best result: third in Bahrain. This year, Perez has a slight 11 to 10 edge so far—neither driver has finished higher than seventh in a race.

Asked what he would improve about himself behind the wheel if he could change just one thing, Hulkenberg pauses for several seconds. "That is a naughty question," he laughs. "Sometimes I think I'm a bit impatient, and a bit more patience would help me in some cases."

Although really, who needs patience when you have the skill to pull off one of the overtaking moves of the season, like the pass Hulkenberg made on McLaren's Kevin Magnussen at Portier during last year's Monaco Grand Prix?

Beyond improving himself, though, what would Hulkenberg do if he could change just one thing in F1?

"Obviously at the moment there's a lot of talk from many people about what should be changed, what can be changed, but I think the F1 product itself is not a poor product," he says.

"There's always room for improvements and things you can do better, but for me, the most important thing to improve right now is the sound. The cars need to be louder so it goes through your skin and your stomach, like it used to be—and we need a bit more speed."

Spoken like a true racer!

Hopefully, one day, this racer will have a car that can really showcase all of his talent. Asked whether he sees that day coming, when there will be a chance for him to move up the F1 grid, Hulkenberg's answer is just three words.

"I think so."

Follow me on Twitter for updates when I publish new articles and for other (mostly) F1-related news and banter:

Follow @MatthewWalthert