Nicolas Hülkenberg

Nicolas "Nico" Hülkenberg (born August 19, 1987 in Emmerich am Rhein) is a German professional racecar driver. Hülkenberg made his karting debut in 1997, at the age of 10. In 2002 he was German Junior Karting Champion and the following year he won the German Kart Championship.

2005 saw his debut in German Formula BMW. His first season was a very successful one, with Hülkenberg dominating the championship and winning the title comfortably. He finished first in the Formula BMW world final but was stripped of the win after it was claimed he had brake-tested his rivals during a safety car period.

Hülkenberg moved up to Formula 3 for 2006, winning one round in the German championship. He also joined the German A1 Grand Prix team for the 2006-07 season. Nine wins in his rookie season made him the most successful driver in A1GP history. It meant he almost single-handedly won Germany the championship with 128 points, 35 more than Team New Zealand.

For 2007 he switched to the F3 Euroseries with the ASM team that had taken Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta to the last two championships. His first win came at the Norisring from 18th on the grid, he won again in the rain at Zandvoort and added a third at the Nürburgring. But he ran into trouble at Magny-Cours, being penalised in qualifying for passing the chequered flag twice, and crashing into Filip Salaquarda in the race.

He won the (non-championship) Ultimate Masters of Formula 3 race at Zolder from team mate (and F3 Euroseries championship leader) Romain Grosjean after the Swiss stalled at the start.