Nico Hülkenberg's 2019 season with the Renault F1 Team was a pivotal and ultimately concluding chapter in his tenure, marked by the arrival of a high-profile teammate and a car that struggled to consistently deliver on pre-season expectations.
Going in
Hülkenberg entered his third season with Renault, having established himself as a consistent points scorer and the team's lead driver in 2017 and 2018. The team had shown incremental progress, climbing to fourth in the Constructors' Championship in 2018. The significant development for 2019 was the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull Racing, signaling Renault's heightened ambitions to challenge the established top three teams. This created a new dynamic for Hülkenberg, placing him alongside a multiple Grand Prix winner and a driver known for his aggressive overtaking and charismatic presence. The R.S.19 was anticipated to build on previous successes, aiming to solidify Renault's position as the "best of the rest" and potentially close the gap to Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, who continued to dominate the turbo-hybrid era, much like Lewis Hamilton — 2014 season demonstrated the power of a well-integrated package.
How it played out
The season proved to be a test of resilience for Hülkenberg and Renault. The R.S.19, while showing flashes of potential, particularly in qualifying, often struggled with race pace and reliability. The team's performance was inconsistent, failing to consistently challenge for the upper end of the midfield. Hülkenberg found himself in a direct comparison with Ricciardo, a driver who, despite also adapting to a new team, often extracted more from the car in key moments, especially in the latter half of the season. While Hülkenberg frequently demonstrated his characteristic ability to qualify well and bring the car home, the overall package limited his ability to convert these positions into substantial points hauls. The intra-team battle saw Ricciardo generally outscore Hülkenberg, finishing P9 in the Drivers' Championship to Hülkenberg's P14. This period contrasted sharply with the consistent front-running performances seen from teams like Mercedes, as exemplified by Lewis Hamilton — 2015 season, highlighting the chasm between the top tier and the midfield.
Defining moments
A defining moment for Hülkenberg's 2019 campaign occurred at his home Grand Prix in Germany. In a chaotic, rain-affected race, Hülkenberg was running strongly in a podium contention position, showcasing his wet-weather prowess, before sliding into the barrier at the final corner of the Sachskurve. This incident was a poignant representation of his career: often on the cusp of a significant result, only for it to slip away. Another key race was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where Hülkenberg secured a strong seventh-place finish, contributing to one of Renault's better double-points finishes of the season. Conversely, races like the British Grand Prix saw him qualify well but struggle to maintain position during the race, indicative of the R.S.19's race pace limitations. The season also featured several mechanical retirements, including a double DNF for Renault in Bahrain, which underscored the reliability challenges faced by the team.
What it meant
The 2019 season ultimately marked the end of Nico Hülkenberg's full-time tenure in Formula 1, as Renault opted for Esteban Ocon for 2020. Despite his consistent professionalism and ability to extract performance from the car, the combination of a high-profile teammate outperforming him in the championship standings and the team's desire for a new direction sealed his fate. This outcome, while not entirely unexpected given the competitive nature of F1 and the arrival of Ricciardo, left Hülkenberg without a full-time seat for the subsequent season, transitioning him into a reserve driver role. His 2019 performance, characterized by moments of strong driving overshadowed by car limitations and a challenging teammate comparison, solidified his reputation as a highly capable driver who, despite a long career, never achieved a podium finish. The struggle to break into the top teams or consistently challenge for podiums in the hybrid era, even as Lewis Hamilton — 2016 season continued to rack up wins, underscored the difficulty for drivers in midfield teams to make that breakthrough.
