Hulkenberg’s Ferrari overtake in Spain a ‘pinch yourself’ moment for Kick Sauber as they eye ‘springboard’ effect

Kick Sauber team boss Jonathan Wheatley hopes the outfit can use Nico Hulkenberg’s standout fifth-place finish in last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix as a “springboard” for more success this season.

Hulkenberg bounced back from a tricky Qualifying session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to launch his way into points contention at the race start – the German staying in the fight as he put Sauber’s new update package to good use.

READ MORE: Hulkenberg reveals ‘golden ticket’ that helped him secure impressive P5 in Spanish GP

A late Safety Car made the outfit’s day even better when Hulkenberg used his “golden ticket” by pitting for spare fresh soft tyres and overhauling Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari for P6 at the restart, before gaining another spot due to Max Verstappen’s penalty.

Wheatley, who has only been at the helm for a couple of months, reflected afterwards: “We had a racing car under us today. It’s the first time that I’ve felt that since I’ve been here – and it’s a great feeling.”

Asked for his emotions when he saw Hulkenberg pass Hamilton’s Ferrari late in the race, the former Red Bull man added: “We overtook two Ferraris today! Both drivers. Honestly, it was a bit of a pinch yourself moment, because that was on pace.”

Hulkenberg’s result lifted Sauber to eighth place in the Teams’ standings, ahead of Aston Martin and Alpine, and also means the squad have now bagged four times as many points as they achieved across the entire 2024 season.

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“It’s huge, you know?” Wheatley replied, when asked what the result does for morale across the organisation. “There’s so much hard work that goes on and so much passion in this team.

“I’m hoping that we can use this as one of the springboards that I talked about, on this roadmap we’ve got towards where we want to be. I’m hoping we can build on the momentum from this.”

He continued: “We’re trying to understand the C45. We maybe didn’t put the performance on the car at the stage that we thought we could early on, so this is just a massive step.

“It’s a massive pat on the back for everyone at the factory. All that analysis, all that hard work that’s going, all the creativity, it’s all going in the right direction.”

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Wheatley admitted that “we need to go to a few more circuits” before making definitive conclusions, but hopes the all-round nature of the Barcelona venue shows Sauber now have a package to challenge for points more often.

“If we look at Barcelona for as long as I’ve been coming here, since 1991, it’s been a true test of a car’s performance,” he commented. “Generally, a car that performs here well performs well at a lot more circuits, so I’m looking forward to it [the rest of the season].”

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