Pre-Race
The 2025 Formula 1 season is ready to kick off with the Australian Grand Prix, and our new brand ambassador, Nico Hulkenberg, is set to rumble with the KICK Sauber F1 Team in Melbourne this weekend. The Albert Park Circuit will host the first of this season’s 24 races, and the German race ace and former Haas F1 driver is well prepared for new challenges in new colors.
“It’s great to be back in Melbourne, and I’m super excited to get the new season underway. I’m here with a new team in a new car, so there are a whole lot of new things, which just makes it even more special. We are ready to take on the challenge, and our focus this weekend will be on progressing and consistently improving as a team in all necessary aspects,” says Nico Hulkenberg.
“While we are realistic about the steps ahead and the challenges we’ll be facing, we are confident in the progress we can make, and I’m looking forward to getting things started.”
Three Things You Need to Know:
- The 5.3 km Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne is back as the traditional season opener after Bahrain hosted it from 2021 onwards.
- Unlike many circuits on the F1 calendar, Albert Park is not a permanent track. The circuit is a temporary setup that transforms public roads around Albert Park Lake into a high-speed racetrack – the 2024 pole lap saw an average speed of over 250 km/h!
- Nico Hulkenberg is entering his 12th season in Formula 1 and will be one of the most experienced drivers on the grid. His new teammate is Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.
Qualifying
There’s news from Melbourne, where our new brand ambassador, Nico Hulkenberg, will start the 2025 Australian Grand Prix from 17th position after narrowly missing out on Q2 by just 0.063 seconds. Not the result Hulk had hoped for, but the German remains optimistic.
“I had a bit of traffic in Sector 1, which basically knocked me out in Q1. When you look at the times, the field is very tight, meaning small things can have a big impact. It feels like we didn’t fully maximize our opportunities today, which isn’t a huge surprise given that it’s early days with a new team and a new car. Let’s see what the conditions will be like tomorrow—if it rains, it will be a whole new game. We’ll do our best,” said Hulkenberg.
Race Day
“We didn’t see that coming”
What a FANTASTIC season opener for our new brand ambassador, Nico Hulkenberg, who finished 7th in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday in Melbourne. Together with his team, the KICK Sauber F1 Team driver did an absolutely brilliant job under rainy and very challenging circumstances, securing six points and placing the team as high as 6th in the Constructors’ Championship.
“That’s an absolutely positive result for the team, and it definitely puts a smile on my face. We didn’t see that coming yesterday after our qualifying performance,” said Nico Hulkenberg after the race.
“Street circuits under these circumstances are very unforgiving. You are constantly on the edge. We didn’t make any mistakes and had a couple of good strategy calls. We managed to pit at exactly the right moment ahead of others. Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky. While others had some trouble, we stayed clean and rewarded ourselves with these six points. I would like to thank the entire team for their hard work in making that happen,” Nico said.
Congratulations, Nico! What a great start to the 2025 season. We can’t wait to see you back in the car at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai later this week.
