Nico Hulkenberg hasn’t had the most glorious F1 career. Coming up through F3 and F2 he won everything and was tapped to be a future German champion. Now a veteran racer, he holds the record for most races without a win. He certainly has the skills, but he just hasn’t had the luck.
Case in point, this past weekend at the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, the Hulk was in the points and running close behind the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson, who ran wide at Turn 12 and kicked up gravel. A stone struck the emergency cutoff switch on Hulkenberg’s Audi, triggering a full shutdown. Coasting dead-stick into the pits, Hulkenberg’s day was over due to a one-in-a-million freak incident.
That’s Hulk luck—finally a competitive race, then eliminated by a stone.