Hülkenberg believes that Seidl was a “decisive factor” in signing with Audi
Nico Hülkenberg stated that Sauber's CEO, Andreas Seidl, was the "decisive factor" in bringing him to the team for the 2025 season, before it becomes Audi for the 2026 season.
Last week, Audi took its first step into the F1 transfer market by signing Nico Hülkenberg to a multi-year contract. This means he will leave the Haas team at the end of the 2024 season.
Discussions had been ongoing since the middle of 2023 for a possible arrival of Hülkenberg at Sauber for this season before he opted to continue for a second year with Haas.
Andreas Seidl was then the team manager of the Porsche LMP1 team, which Hülkenberg joined for two races in 2015 at Spa and Le Mans. He won the race at Le Mans alongside Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber.
Interviewed about the importance of Seidl in convincing him to join Sauber before this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Hülkenberg replied that: “Yes. He is the determining factor in this. One of the decision-makers, one of the key people in the management team at Audi. So, of course, it comes from him. And he is someone very direct and straightforward with me.”
2020, a missed opportunity
Nico Hülkenberg then recounted a moment in his relationship with Seidl, notably a conversation during the 2020 season, when the German driver was without a seat after being sidelined by Renault at the end of the previous year, and Seidl was then the boss of the McLaren team.
I remember 2020 when there was the COVID epidemic before the start of the season, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” explained Hülkenberg. “But I remember calling him and seeing him. He was at McLaren at the time.
« I said: Andy, how does it look? Is there maybe a chance for me? And he replied directly: No, don’t even fool yourself. It won’t happen. This time, years later, it was different. He was very keen to sign me and have me.
At the Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday, Hülkenberg also remembered his previous season at Sauber in 2013, which was a set of very different circumstances, which many then considered as a prelude to a transfer to Ferrari, which supplied engines to Sauber, but which never materialized.
With every team I’ve worked and raced with, I’ve never had any problems with the team, the mechanics, or the engineers. I’ve always enjoyed working with all the team members and working together to push for performance.
