Nico Hülkenberg secured his best result of the 2026 Formula 1 season with eighth place at the Dutch Grand Prix, but his race could easily have ended on the opening lap after a frightening near-miss with Audi team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto. The German reacted instinctively through a cloud of smoke to avoid the spinning Brazilian before going on to collect four valuable points at Zandvoort.
After ninth place at the previous Hungarian Grand Prix had represented Hülkenberg’s best finish of the season, the Audi driver immediately improved on that result in the Netherlands. It capped a strong weekend for the German and confirmed the progress he has made since the summer break.
Nico Hülkenberg narrowly avoids Gabriel Bortoleto crash
The most dangerous moment came at the end of the opening lap. Max Verstappen had crashed heavily into the barriers, causing the race to be stopped, while Gabriel Bortoleto also lost control of his Audi and spun.
Bortoleto managed to keep the car away from the barriers, but Hülkenberg was approaching directly behind and could not see his team-mate clearly because of the cloud of smoke generated by the incident. A combination of quick reactions and good fortune allowed the German to avoid a collision by the narrowest of margins.
“It was a really good race, although the end of the first lap was pretty scary,” Nico Hülkenberg explained. “I saw what was happening in front of me and reacted instinctively, so I was relieved to have avoided the accident.”
“From there onwards, we had a clean race, a good strategy and some nice battles along the way. It feels really good to go home with points today.”
Hülkenberg says P8 confirms Audi is moving in the right direction
The eighth-place finish was particularly valuable for Audi after a weekend that had not always been straightforward. Hülkenberg believes the result is evidence that the work being carried out by the team is beginning to pay off.
“They are important for us in the championship and give the whole team a boost, while also confirming that the work we are doing is taking us in the right direction. It wasn’t the easiest weekend, so it’s even better to go home with a good result and some valuable points today.”
Audi also benefited from both Haas cars retiring from the Dutch Grand Prix. The result allowed the German manufacturer to move closer to the American team in the constructors’ standings, with the gap now reduced to just five points.
That margin could have been even smaller had Gabriel Bortoleto also finished inside the points, but the Brazilian had to settle for 13th place after a frustrating afternoon.
Gabriel Bortoleto frustrated after difficult Dutch GP
“It was a slightly disappointing end to the weekend for us,” Gabriel Bortoleto admitted. “We had some problems at the start that unfortunately didn’t allow us to maximise our grid position.”
The Brazilian then explained the moment that led to his first-lap spin.
“Also, when I saw the smoke from Verstappen’s car, I made a small steering correction and lost control of the car – fortunately I managed not to end up in the wall.”
Despite the setback, Bortoleto praised Audi for attempting to recover the situation strategically and took encouragement from the underlying pace shown by the car over the weekend.
“The team did a fantastic job trying to put me in the best possible position to recover places, so it’s a shame we didn’t get the result we wanted, although it was nice to see Nico bring home more points today.”
“Our pace was good. I was happy with the feeling I had with the car up until yesterday, so we’ll take those positives and focus on Monza in two weeks’ time.”
Audi closes on Haas in F1 midfield battle
For Audi, Hülkenberg’s result provides another important boost in an increasingly tight midfield fight. Eighth place represents his strongest finish of the season so far, while back-to-back top-10 results suggest that the team is beginning to convert its improving performance into championship points more consistently.
Zandvoort could easily have produced a very different outcome after the opening-lap drama involving both Audi drivers. Instead, Hülkenberg escaped the incident and delivered four points that have brought the team to within five of Haas, giving Audi further momentum heading towards the Italian Grand Prix.
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