Nico Hülkenberg opened up about Audi’s strategy choice and execution, his race start, how the last few laps unfolded, and the blue flag system problems following his ninth-place finish at the Hungarian GP and first points of the 2026 F1 season.
After reaching Q3 and qualifying in tenth, the German started Sunday’s race on the medium compound. Despite losing a position to Liam Lawson on the opening lap, he successfully executed a two-stop strategy.
Hülkenberg overtook teammate Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad—both on a one-stopper—in the closing stages with the soft tyre and claimed two points for P9.
The one-time podium finisher now has scored his first-ever points for Audi and finds himself in eighteenth place in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
Thoughts on the two-stop strategy
Speaking in the print media pen after the 70-lap F1 race, Nico Hülkenberg shed more light on his two-stop M-H-S strategy as he finished in the top ten at the 2026 Hungarian GP.
Questioning whether the two-stopper was an aggressive strategy, the 38-year-old stated that Bortoleto’s 29-lap first stint on the softest compound had convinced the Audi pit wall of the durability of the soft tyres. Furthermore, he maintained that clean execution on both Saturday and Sunday was key to scoring his long-overdue first points of the ongoing campaign.
Hülkenberg also added that he was going to take the positives from the Hungaroring into the summer break, evaluate the first half of the season, and approach the second half with a stronger mindset.
“You think aggressive, yeah? Gabi [Bortoleto] and some other cars, I think, did some really long stints in the first stint. So, you know, that gives you always good confidence and good info that the soft, you know, lasts well.
“But yeah, I think [it was] a well-executed, clean weekend for the first time this year, Saturday and Sunday. And obviously good to tick the box with points, to have that, you know, done and dusted. It’s been very overdue.
“So yeah, we will happily take that into the summer break. Now, you have some weeks to reflect and digest obviously the first 11 races, regroup, and go again.”
Hülkenberg reflects on his 2026 Hungarian GP race start
In terms of him losing a position to Lawson as the five red lights went out at the 2026 Hungarian GP, Nico Hülkenberg reckoned that it wasn’t a massive setback. Nonetheless, he drew attention to how the right side of the starting grid was considerably dirtier than the left and that he needed to reassess his race start.
Noting how the Alpines of both Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were momentarily ahead of him on the opening lap, the Audi F1 driver also stated that managing to stay ahead was instrumental to his first points finish of the season.
“Yeah, not too bad. I need to review it.
“I think the right side here this weekend was quite a bit worse than the left side. There was a big offset for some reason more than in the past. It was a bit annoying.
“I think even at one point I was behind one Alpine or two Alpines, both even. But somehow, I got them back during Lap 1, which was, I think, pretty important and key for our race.”
Hülkenberg comments on the final stages of his race and blue flag fiasco
With regard to how action-packed the final stages of the 2026 Hungarian GP were, Nico Hülkenberg lamented that the sheer number of blue flags and making way for the frontrunners had disrupted his momentum.
“Well, there were a lot of blue flags, you know, where the leaders were coming through. And that really kind of cuts your rhythm, makes it very difficult to race. But that’s the same for everyone.”
Asked to comment on how the last few laps of his race unfolded, the one-time polesitter revealed that Bortoleto had let him pass because his tyres were completely worn out. While managing to get past Lindblad, he explained how being caught by the leading cars made overtaking Lawson impossible in the end.
“I mean, yeah, Gabi let me by because he had no tyres obviously anymore. Then I overtook Arvid [Lindblad] and then kept chasing down Liam [Lawson]. But yeah, it was difficult to do in the end.”
With respect to the blue flag panels apparently malfunctioning during the race and whether it was always clear for him when he was shown the blue flags, Hülkenberg responded, “Yeah, I mean, of course, you see anyway, there was blue panels, and we have the virtual mirror, and you see the car.”
Surmising that the blue flag warnings arrived too late for some drivers, the German reckoned that the novelty of the system in Budapest was surprising to many. Nevertheless, he reiterated that the blue flag issues hadn’t inconvenienced him to a significant extent.
“So, probably some guys felt that it took too long today. But I think it was because we were surprised at the beginning that it wasn’t the usual system and how it worked. But I think all in all, no bigger problems for my side.”
