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DRIVING SIGNATURE · FULL METRICS

Nico Hulkenberg

Active aero era (2026 onwards) · data from 2026 · Audi

LATE HYBRID · 2018–2020GROUND EFFECT · 2022–2025ACTIVE AERO · 2026

LAPS USED

419

QUALIFYING

19

RACES

18

AXES SCORED

5/6

CONFIDENCE

0.72

How this is calculated — the era, the field, the comparison groups and every threshold.

OVERVIEW

Each axis is a 0–100 rank among every driver-era in the dataset, built from differences to the same-session field. The 90% range is where nine in ten resampled scores land. Rank is within the active aero field.

STEERINGSMOOTHNESSPENDINGENTRY AGGRESSIONTYRE MANAGEMENTTHROTTLE APPLICATIONBRAKINGCONSISTENCY

DASHED: ERA AVG — The average of every driver scored in the same regulation era. It sits close to 50 on every axis: a typical driver.

AXISSCORE90% RANGERANKERA AVGALL-TIMECHAMPIONSTEAMMATES
STEERINGPENDING——————
ENTRY7249–759/2254509262
TYRE MGMT9988–1001/2251505143
THROTTLE2515–3716/2252507634
BRAKING7556–848/2250507844
CONSISTENCY2816–6915/2253508169

AXIS BY AXIS

What each axis measures, where the driver sits among this era's drivers, the raw differences behind the score, and how it moved from weekend to weekend.

ENTRY AGGRESSION

QUALIFYING PUSH LAPS · CORNER BY CORNER

Speed as the driver comes off the brake, and the minimum speed through the corner.

72/ 100
RANK 9 OF 22 · ACTIVE AERO FIELD
90% RANGE 49–75

Higher means: Carries more speed off the brake and through the slowest point.

0255075100Alexander Albon (Williams): 9Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): 14Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 91Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team): 56Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 62Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): 7Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 39Pierre Gasly (Alpine): 60Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing): 75Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 86Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): 57Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 92Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): 36Lando Norris (McLaren): 94Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team): 30Sergio Perez (Cadillac): 10Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 85George Russell (Mercedes): 88Carlos Sainz (Williams): 18Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): 8Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): 87Nico Hulkenberg: 72

● DRIVER · ○ TEAMMATE · ● REST OF ERA · ┊ ERA AVG · SHADED: 90% RANGE

ON AVERAGE, AGAINST THE SAME-SESSION FIELD

2.1 km/h more speed as the brake comes off.

0.7 km/h higher minimum corner speed.

WEEKEND BY WEEKEND · ABOVE THE LINE = BETTER THAN THAT SESSION'S FIELD

2026
2026 Melbourne: -0.292026 Shanghai: +0.522026 Suzuka: +0.192026 Miami: +0.042026 Montreal: +0.372026 Monte Carlo: +0.162026 Catalunya: +0.232026 Spielberg: +0.142026 Silverstone: +0.272026 Spa-Francorchamps: +0.482026 Hungaroring: +0.102026 Zandvoort: -0.132026 Monza: -0.042026 Madring: -0.072026 Baku: -0.842026 Kuala Lumpur: -0.412026 Singapore: +0.402026 Austin: +0.182026 Mexico City: +0.32

19 SESSIONS · 364 LAP-CORNERS · MINIMUM 5 QUALIFYING SESSIONS AND 150 LAP-CORNERS

TYRE MANAGEMENT

CLEAN RACE LAPS · PER STINT

How fast lap times drop off as the tyres age, corrected for fuel load.

99/ 100
RANK 1 OF 22 · ACTIVE AERO FIELD
90% RANGE 88–100

Higher means: Loses less time per lap of tyre age than the field on the same compound.

0255075100Alexander Albon (Williams): 35Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): 52Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 95Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team): 34Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 43Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): 2Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 58Pierre Gasly (Alpine): 80Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing): 69Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 42Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): 92Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 40Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): 62Lando Norris (McLaren): 37Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team): 3Sergio Perez (Cadillac): 25Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 29George Russell (Mercedes): 70Carlos Sainz (Williams): 53Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): 24Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): 82Nico Hulkenberg: 99

● DRIVER · ○ TEAMMATE · ● REST OF ERA · ┊ ERA AVG · SHADED: 90% RANGE

ON AVERAGE, AGAINST THE SAME-SESSION FIELD

Loses 0.042 s per lap of tyre age after fuel correction, 0.012 s/lap less than the race median.

WEEKEND BY WEEKEND · ABOVE THE LINE = BETTER THAN THAT SESSION'S FIELD

2026
2026 Melbourne: no usable session2026 Shanghai: 0.002026 Suzuka: +0.672026 Miami: no usable session2026 Montreal: +0.212026 Monte Carlo: -0.952026 Catalunya: no usable session2026 Spielberg: +1.642026 Silverstone: no usable session2026 Spa-Francorchamps: no usable session2026 Hungaroring: +1.342026 Zandvoort: +0.892026 Monza: +1.522026 Madring: +0.432026 Baku: -0.932026 Kuala Lumpur: no usable session2026 Singapore: +0.452026 Austin: +0.312026 Mexico City: +0.34

13 SESSIONS · 20 STINTS · MINIMUM 5 RACES AND 8 STINTS

THROTTLE APPLICATION

QUALIFYING PUSH LAPS · CORNER BY CORNER

Distance from the slowest point of the corner to full throttle, and the number of throttle lifts in between.

25/ 100
RANK 16 OF 22 · ACTIVE AERO FIELD
90% RANGE 15–37

Higher means: Reaches full throttle sooner after the apex, with fewer lifts.

0255075100Alexander Albon (Williams): 7Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): 88Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 90Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team): 12Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 34Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): 17Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 20Pierre Gasly (Alpine): 46Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing): 49Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 69Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): 43Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 85Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): 93Lando Norris (McLaren): 78Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team): 19Sergio Perez (Cadillac): 33Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 24George Russell (Mercedes): 83Carlos Sainz (Williams): 29Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): 96Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): 92Nico Hulkenberg: 25

● DRIVER · ○ TEAMMATE · ● REST OF ERA · ┊ ERA AVG · SHADED: 90% RANGE

ON AVERAGE, AGAINST THE SAME-SESSION FIELD

Reaches full throttle 2.2 m further from the apex than the field median.

WEEKEND BY WEEKEND · ABOVE THE LINE = BETTER THAN THAT SESSION'S FIELD

2026
2026 Melbourne: -0.062026 Shanghai: +0.232026 Suzuka: -0.412026 Miami: -0.592026 Montreal: -0.542026 Monte Carlo: -0.122026 Catalunya: -0.302026 Spielberg: -0.202026 Silverstone: -0.652026 Spa-Francorchamps: +0.022026 Hungaroring: -0.092026 Zandvoort: +0.012026 Monza: -0.172026 Madring: -0.222026 Baku: +0.082026 Kuala Lumpur: +0.012026 Singapore: -0.312026 Austin: +0.012026 Mexico City: -0.10

19 SESSIONS · 332 LAP-CORNERS · MINIMUM 5 QUALIFYING SESSIONS AND 150 LAP-CORNERS

BRAKING

QUALIFYING PUSH LAPS · CORNER BY CORNER

Where the driver starts braking for each corner, and how long the braking zone lasts.

75/ 100
RANK 8 OF 22 · ACTIVE AERO FIELD
90% RANGE 56–84

Higher means: Brakes later and over a shorter distance than the field.

0255075100Alexander Albon (Williams): 4Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): 85Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 52Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team): 13Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 44Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): 8Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 7Pierre Gasly (Alpine): 25Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing): 96Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 94Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): 39Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 98Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): 40Lando Norris (McLaren): 93Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team): 17Sergio Perez (Cadillac): 12Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 69George Russell (Mercedes): 57Carlos Sainz (Williams): 6Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): 81Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): 91Nico Hulkenberg: 75

● DRIVER · ○ TEAMMATE · ● REST OF ERA · ┊ ERA AVG · SHADED: 90% RANGE

ON AVERAGE, AGAINST THE SAME-SESSION FIELD

Starts braking 0.1 m earlier than the field median.

WEEKEND BY WEEKEND · ABOVE THE LINE = BETTER THAN THAT SESSION'S FIELD

2026
2026 Melbourne: -0.202026 Shanghai: +0.362026 Suzuka: +0.452026 Miami: -0.382026 Montreal: -0.452026 Monte Carlo: +0.152026 Catalunya: -0.262026 Spielberg: +0.222026 Silverstone: -0.032026 Spa-Francorchamps: +0.382026 Hungaroring: +0.132026 Zandvoort: +0.512026 Monza: +0.082026 Madring: -0.272026 Baku: +0.452026 Kuala Lumpur: +0.642026 Singapore: +0.442026 Austin: +0.042026 Mexico City: +0.25

19 SESSIONS · 331 LAP-CORNERS · MINIMUM 5 QUALIFYING SESSIONS AND 150 LAP-CORNERS

CONSISTENCY

CLEAN RACE LAPS · PER STINT

How much clean lap times vary within a stint once the tyre-wear trend is removed.

28/ 100
RANK 15 OF 22 · ACTIVE AERO FIELD
90% RANGE 16–69

Higher means: Smaller lap-to-lap variation than the field in the same race.

0255075100Alexander Albon (Williams): 23Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): 10Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 92Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team): 54Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 69Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): 8Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 37Pierre Gasly (Alpine): 74Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing): 43Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 91Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): 90Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 99Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): 50Lando Norris (McLaren): 96Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team): 26Sergio Perez (Cadillac): 2Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 61George Russell (Mercedes): 77Carlos Sainz (Williams): 27Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): 15Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): 98Nico Hulkenberg: 28

● DRIVER · ○ TEAMMATE · ● REST OF ERA · ┊ ERA AVG · SHADED: 90% RANGE

ON AVERAGE, AGAINST THE SAME-SESSION FIELD

Lap times scatter 0.382 s around the stint trend, 0.081 s looser than the field median.

WEEKEND BY WEEKEND · ABOVE THE LINE = BETTER THAN THAT SESSION'S FIELD

2026
2026 Melbourne: no usable session2026 Shanghai: -1.332026 Suzuka: -0.332026 Miami: no usable session2026 Montreal: -0.812026 Monte Carlo: -2.402026 Catalunya: no usable session2026 Spielberg: -0.542026 Silverstone: +1.092026 Spa-Francorchamps: no usable session2026 Hungaroring: -0.962026 Zandvoort: -1.122026 Monza: +0.302026 Madring: +0.422026 Baku: -0.052026 Kuala Lumpur: +0.172026 Singapore: +0.392026 Austin: -0.182026 Mexico City: -0.81

15 SESSIONS · 24 STINTS · MINIMUM 5 RACES AND 8 STINTS

STEERING SMOOTHNESS

NEEDS ONBOARD VIDEO

How smoothly the driver steers through each corner.

PENDING

Not measured yet. No public feed carries steering angle; it will come from onboard video.

TEAMMATES

Same car, same sessions. Each cell is the average difference over the sessions they shared, in field-spread units: +0.30 means 0.3 of a typical field spread better on that axis. Qualifying H2H is the share of shared qualifying sessions where Hulkenberg's best lap was faster.

TEAMMATESHAREDQUALI H2HENTRYTYRE MGMTTHROTTLEBRAKINGCONSISTENCY
Gabriel Bortoleto35
19 Q · 16 R
53%+0.09+0.58-0.08+0.24-0.32

SESSION LOG

Every weekend in this era. Values are the difference from that session's field in field-spread units, green better and red worse. A dash means the session was skipped (wet, or no data) or the driver had no usable laps.

WEEKENDCIRCUITTEAMQ LAPSBRAKINGENTRYTHROTTLERACE LAPSCONSISTENCYTYRE MGMT
2026 R01MelbourneAudi3-0.20-0.29-0.06———
2026 R02ShanghaiAudi3+0.36+0.52+0.2324-1.330.00
2026 R03SuzukaAudi3+0.45+0.19-0.418-0.33+0.67
2026 R04MiamiAudi3-0.38+0.04-0.590——
2026 R05MontrealAudi3-0.45+0.37-0.5442-0.81+0.21
2026 R06Monte CarloAudi3+0.15+0.16-0.1212-2.40-0.95
2026 R07CatalunyaAudi2-0.26+0.23-0.300——
2026 R08SpielbergAudi2+0.22+0.14-0.2039-0.54+1.64
2026 R09SilverstoneAudi3-0.03+0.27-0.656+1.09—
2026 R10Spa-FrancorchampsAudi3+0.38+0.48+0.020——
2026 R11HungaroringAudi3+0.13+0.10-0.0929-0.96+1.34
2026 R12ZandvoortAudi3+0.51-0.13+0.0132-1.12+0.89
2026 R13MonzaAudi3+0.08-0.04-0.1725+0.30+1.52
2026 R14MadringAudi1-0.27-0.07-0.2227+0.42+0.43
2026 R15BakuAudi2+0.45-0.84+0.0817-0.05-0.93
2026 R16Kuala LumpurAudi2+0.64-0.41+0.016+0.17—
2026 R17SingaporeAudi3+0.44+0.40-0.3138+0.39+0.45
2026 R18AustinAudi3+0.04+0.18+0.0129-0.18+0.31
2026 R19Mexico CityAudi3+0.25+0.32-0.1034-0.81+0.34

HOW THIS IS CALCULATED

The definitions behind every number on this page. The full specification lives with the pipeline code (backend/pipeline/signature/SPEC.md).

REGULATION ERAS

An era is a period under one set of technical rules. When the rules change, every car brakes, turns and wears its tyres differently, so a driver's style relative to the field can shift too. Signatures are therefore computed separately for each era, and the driver page shows the most recent era with at least one scored axis. These eras are defined by the car rules, separate from the storytelling eras elsewhere on the site.

ERAWHAT DEFINES ITDATA IN THIS DATASET
LATE HYBRID
2018–2021
1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrid power units, used since 2014, in the wider, higher-downforce cars on wider tyres introduced in 2017.
The era starts in 2018, the first season of the official timing archive, although its car rules date from 2017.
2018–2021
30 drivers scored
GROUND EFFECT
2022–2025
Most downforce comes from two Venturi tunnels under the floor, with simplified wings and 18-inch low-profile tyres, so that cars can follow each other more closely.
2022–2025
31 drivers scored
ACTIVE AERO
2026 onwards
THIS PAGE
Front and rear wings switch between a corner mode and a low-drag straight mode, replacing DRS. Cars are shorter, narrower and lighter (768 kg), the floor tunnels are gone, and power is split roughly half and half between combustion and electric, with the MGU-H removed and fully sustainable fuel.
Energy recovery is a bigger part of each lap: drivers lift off before braking to recharge and cars harvest at full throttle at the end of straights. Throttle and braking traces reflect energy management as well as driving style.
2026
22 drivers scored

THE FIELD

Every measurement is a difference from the other cars in the same session. Comparing within a session cancels out the track, the weather, the tyre generation and the overall speed of that year's cars, which is what makes different weekends comparable. For each corner, or each race, the driver's value has the field median subtracted and is divided by the field's spread (a robust z-score, capped at ±3). A value of +1 means one typical field spread better than the median driver.

FROM LAPS TO A SCORE

  1. Pick the laps. Qualifying: up to 3 push laps per driver, within 1% of their own best and 107% of the fastest lap, on dry tyres, not deleted for track limits and not run under red or yellow flags. Race: clean laps only, meaning not lap 1, no pit laps, no safety car, virtual safety car, red or yellow flag, dry tyres, at least 1.5 s behind the car ahead, and within 107% of the driver's stint median.
  2. Measure.Corners are the slowest points of the session's fastest lap (dips of at least 25km/h). Every lap is mapped onto that lap's line, so all drivers' brake points and apexes share one distance scale. Full throttle means 98% pedal or more, and a lift is a drop of 10points. In the race, each stint's lap times are corrected for fuel (0.055 s per lap of fuel still on board) and fitted against tyre age: the slope is degradation (at least 8 clean laps), and the scatter around the line is consistency (at least 6).
  3. Compare with the field. Each corner needs at least 8 field laps; tyre degradation is compared on the same compound when at least 4 stints used it.
  4. Combine over the era. A weighted average of the session values. An axis is only scored with at least 5 qualifying sessions and 150 lap-corners, or 5 races and 8 stints; otherwise it stays empty rather than guessed.
  5. Rank.The 0–100 score is the driver-era's percentile among every driver-era in the dataset, so 50 is typical.
  6. Confidence.The driver's sessions are resampled 400 times and re-ranked. The 90% range runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile of those ranks, and confidence is 1 minus the average width of the ranges.

COMPARISON GROUPS

ERA AVG

The average of every driver scored in the same regulation era. It sits close to 50 on every axis: a typical driver.

ALL-TIME

The average of every driver-era in the dataset. Scores are ranks among those same driver-eras, so it sits at 50 on every axis by construction.

CHAMPIONS

World champions in the eras they won their titles, from the final standings of completed seasons. In the dataset: Lewis Hamilton (2018, 2019, 2020), Max Verstappen (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), Lando Norris (2025).

TEAMMATES

The driver's teammates in this era, weighted by sessions shared. Same car, so this is the fairest comparison.

AXES

AXISMEASURESHIGHER MEANSDATA
STEERING SMOOTHNESSHow smoothly the driver steers through each corner.Not measured yet. No public feed carries steering angle; it will come from onboard video.NEEDS ONBOARD VIDEO
ENTRY AGGRESSIONSpeed as the driver comes off the brake, and the minimum speed through the corner.Carries more speed off the brake and through the slowest point.QUALIFYING PUSH LAPS · CORNER BY CORNER
TYRE MANAGEMENTHow fast lap times drop off as the tyres age, corrected for fuel load.Loses less time per lap of tyre age than the field on the same compound.CLEAN RACE LAPS · PER STINT
THROTTLE APPLICATIONDistance from the slowest point of the corner to full throttle, and the number of throttle lifts in between.Reaches full throttle sooner after the apex, with fewer lifts.QUALIFYING PUSH LAPS · CORNER BY CORNER
BRAKINGWhere the driver starts braking for each corner, and how long the braking zone lasts.Brakes later and over a shorter distance than the field.QUALIFYING PUSH LAPS · CORNER BY CORNER
CONSISTENCYHow much clean lap times vary within a stint once the tyre-wear trend is removed.Smaller lap-to-lap variation than the field in the same race.CLEAN RACE LAPS · PER STINT

DATA AND COVERAGE

Source: Official F1 live-timing feed, read through TracingInsights' public FastF1 extraction (2018–2022) and the OpenF1 historical API (2023–2026). The feed gives car data (speed, throttle, brake on/off, gear) about 3.7 times a second, car positions, laps, tyre stints, gaps and race-control messages. It does not carry steering angle or brake pressure. 180 qualifying sessions and 186 races are scored.

SEASONWEEKENDSQUALIFYINGRACESNOT SCORED
20182120/2120/21
Australian qualifying: no race-control messages in the source, so flags cannot be applied
Australian race: no race-control messages in the source, so flags cannot be applied
20192121/2121/21—
20201715/1717/17
Styrian qualifying: wet
Turkish qualifying: wet
20212220/2222/22
Belgian qualifying: wet
Russian qualifying: mixed conditions, 6 drivers on dry tyres
20222220/2222/22
Canadian qualifying: wet
British qualifying: wet
20232221/2222/22
Dutch qualifying: mixed conditions, 9 drivers on dry tyres
20242422/2424/24
Belgian qualifying: wet
São Paulo qualifying: wet
20252422/2424/24
Azerbaijan qualifying: no lap data in the public feed
Las Vegas qualifying: wet
202619 (+4 still to run)19/1919/19—

KNOWN LIMITATIONS

  • The field includes faster and slower cars, so a driver in a quick car scores higher on car-sensitive measures such as minimum corner speed. The teammate comparison is where the car is held constant.
  • The braking point is not adjusted for approach speed: a driver who exits the previous corner faster arrives quicker and has to brake earlier. Braking describes style more than pace.
  • Tyre management cannot tell tyre wear apart from a driver deliberately controlling pace, so its ranges are wide.
  • From 2026, throttle and braking traces also reflect energy recovery (lifting before braking, harvesting at full throttle), not only driving style.
  • Steering smoothness needs steering angle, which no public feed carries. It is never estimated and will come from onboard video, along with seasons before 2018.

PIPELINE TIMING-0.1.0 · GENERATED 2026-11-02 · OFFICIAL F1 LIVE-TIMING FEED, READ THROUGH TRACINGINSIGHTS' PUBLIC FASTF1 EXTRACTION (2018–2022) AND THE OPENF1 HISTORICAL API (2023–2026)