Welcome back to the inaugural Motornerd Awards, celebrating the best we’ve witnessed over the last 12 months. Now officially in the second half of these recognitions, we’re not slowing down anytime soon. This time it’s moment of the year, that is, which single motoring moment deserves the plaudits more than any other? Does Tommy Milner’s middle finger display that spawned countless memes and T-shirts take my fancy? Is it instead Lamborghini finally winning a 24 Hour race at Spa?

It won’t be much of a surprise, I imagine, for you to read that this award goes to the only man who could’ve received it.

Nico Hulkenberg’s first podium is of course the Motornerd Moment of The Year. Be honest, did you really think it could be anything else?

It’s a rather sad fact but for most of his career Nico was known as either ‘the second best Nico on the grid’ or for the best part of the last decade: ‘The guy who seems impossibly allergic to the podium.’ For the longest time people just assumed his day would come, yet after so many moments of so-close-yet-so-far we all began to wonder whether or not the Le Mans winner would ever actually do it. And I suppose, just like all those watching from home in The Trueman Show, we were all willing him on, cruel memes having turned to absolute sympathy.

It’s been no secret that his driving has always deserved a podium, with his pole position for Williams in 2010’s Brazilian Grand prix, and for his dependable consistency. The fact he’s spent the last 15 years on the F1 grid, hopping around teams as though it’s the 1990s and yet still performing more than admirably at all of them is testament to all of them. Really it’s a crime he was never able to find a top seat where he could compete for higher placings, though Audi have confidence in their 2026 machinery…

Let’s also not forget the extra emotion in that, but for Hulkenberg’s ability to prove he still had it in 2020 and 2021, he’d have never got the chance to even race beyond the COVID years. It speaks to his character as a driver and person that on what was supposed to be his final start in 2019 he was voted driver of the day. A day when we all thought an unfortunate, arguably unfair and possible unbeatable record had been set in stone.

Five years later, now aged 38, he’s still here and as strong as he ever was. And after joining Sauber and by proxy Audi for 2025, there was hope he could finally do it.

And at Silverstone, Hulkenberg shined in difficult conditions. With many drivers opting to change to wet tyres the German found himself promoted a few places, and on slicks was running quietly until the Virtual Safety Car came out. After a quick pitstop he came out ahead of those who’d pitted earlier, now running fourth. And with his only barrier being not a Ferrari, Mercedes or McLaren but rather Lance Stroll Hulkenberg made light work of the Canadian. Yet late on Sauber came on the radio asking him to pit. Hulkenberg refused, and on ageing tyres masterfully picked his way through the final laps and fended off a late challenge from Lewis Hamilton to finally finish on the podium after 242 races, annihilating the old record set by Carlos Sainz – 101, achieved in 2019.

That the moment was rather spoiled by the childish petulance of the McLaren duo, who chose to sulk rather than celebrate the bigger moment doesn’t really matter in the end. The paddock was still alive with a chorus chanting the German’s name in rapture.

A Le Mans wins and now, after 15 long years in the F1 game, a podium and now the inaugural Motornerd Moment of The Year. Really, Hulkenberg should be quite satisfied when he hangs up his racing gloves.

image credit – Liauzh, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons