Hulkenberg was probably the best choice that Audi could have for a second driver. German, someone who can reliably find some points and is probably around 10-13 place on the grid in terms of driving talent, a veteran who could help a younger 1st driver, and a driver becoming a fan favorite again.

Best litmus test to see if F1 fans know what they’re taking about is how they rate Hulkenberg

Actually Nico and Carlos would be a power duo. Sadly it doesn't look like Carlos will join Audi

You my friend, have a unique style of presenting these F1 videos and I applaud your presentation and your researching abilities. You tell a story with each episode, and that's why I just subscribed!

I think you are seeing with the ground effect cars which drivers can handle a car that is not constantly glued to the racetrack. Hulkenberg looks to be pretty competent as he is consistently getting into Q3, and scoring points, when the midfield is tight, and he probably has the 7th or 8th fastest car.

He is a safe pair of hands, German so helps with the Audi marketing and imagine and most of all experienced, someone to build and grow the team Sainz wants that red bull seat but the Audi project could be such a nice proposition and he would most likely get the number 1 status Also both Niko and Sainz where former teammates at Renault so im sure they would get along well

The only driver that would have suited Audi better than Nico, would have been Vettel. And I don't believe he will ever come back to F1. Maybe Lemans, but not F1. He will most likely get a 2 year contract to see how he does, and then a up and coming young driver could take his seat as Audi improves. He is a great 'stepping stone,' if you will. I look forward to see how fast Audi can grow their F1 team. In LMP1 they showed up on the scene and quickly won 5 times in 7 years, so I wouldn't count them out to have results sooner, than later.

I just did a video on Nico Hulkenberg as well about being overrated or underrated. Nice job ❤

Carlos Sainz has signed for Williams for the foreseeable future.

At least he perseveres. His career is similar to Chris Amon. Nico deserves to be paid more than 2million dollars per year.

I'd say he's overrated and taking up space in F1 for the F2 champions that were never given a shot. Felipe Drugovich and Théo Pourchaire deserve a shot at F1.

So we've circled back to calling Hülkenberg underrated, as the F1 community collectively did before 2019, when he first lost his seat. Maybe new F1 fans don't know who he is, or old F1 fans actually do underrate him now because of his break between 2019 and 2023. But if everybody agrees you're underrated, you're actually not underrated. That certainly was the case with Hülkenberg in the past. Never forget he lost the teammate battle against Sergio Pérez over three years at Force India. That should be an indicator to the ceiling of his abilities. If Sergio Pérez doesn't deserve his Red Bull seat, then neither does Hülkenberg.

"Younger and more successful driver available" juxtaposed with a shot of Kimi Antonelli. Younger yes, more successful however. No. Also not available to Audi. Antonelli looks like he'll be a great but then so did Hulk whose junior career was more decorated. Either way he's a Merc driver, and not someone who would be loaned out to Audi, so not the best choice to bring up as an example in this. About the podiums. 2012 Brazil absolutely fair he threw away a podium in his efforts to go for a race win. 2017 Baku is nonsense though. The Williams were always ahead of him that race. they were faster. At no point was he in podium contention. He was battling with Magnussen who was passed by both Hamilton and Vettel. Hulk was in 7th when he crashed. There was no podium thrown away that weekend. 2019: Again fair he threw that one away. Though again he wasn't in a podium position at the time - he was 4th, but the possibility was there with how the race was unfolding, unlike in Baku where he genuinely was never in contention.