IndyCar star Conor Daly recalls F1 memories with Nico Hulkenberg after the Sauber driver's first career podium at the British GP

IndyCar veteran Conor Daly gave a "huge shoutout" to Nico Hulkenberg after the Sauber F1 driver earned his first career podium at the 2025 British GP. The German driver started in 19th place and finished third at Silverstone as Lando Norris led a McLaren 1-2.

Hulkenberg had to wait for 15 years to stand on an F1 podium since his debut with Williams in 2010, with his fate finally turning after 239 race starts. His podium finish overshadowed Norris' first win on home soil, with a whopping 49% of fans voting him Driver of the Day.

Pole-sitter Max Verstappen dropped out of the Top 10 after spinning in the wet conditions. This pushed Lance Stroll into P3 and Hulkenberg, who was in P5 after a brilliant strategic call from Sauber, into P4. He eventually overtook Stroll and held onto P3.

Conor Daly, who served as an F1 reserve driver for Force India (now Aston Martin) when Nico Hulkenberg drove for the team in the early to mid-2010s, congratulated his former ally via an X post.

"Im a little late on this one but huge shoutout to @HulkHulkenberg ! Finally standing on the #F1 podium! Nico and his trainer were very helpful to me back in the Force India days and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him. Love to see it," Daly wrote.

Conor Daly

@ConorDaly22

LINK

Im a little late on this one but huge shoutout to

@HulkHulkenberg

! Finally standing on the #F1 podium! Nico and his trainer were very helpful to me back in the Force India days and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him. Love to see it 👏

Conor Daly and Nico Hulkenberg's paths nearly crossed again in 2022, when the latter was in talks for a part-time IndyCar seat with Ed Carpenter Racing. At the time, Daly didn't have the required funding to run a full season with ECR. That led team boss Ed Carpenter to negotiate a deal with Hulkenberg.

However, Daly continued with the team for the season, with his old F1 pal joining Aston Martin as an F1 reserve driver.

Conor Daly slams "clown" Santino Ferrucci for derailing his IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio

Conor Daly driving at the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio - Source: Getty

Over an hour after the British GP concluded and Nico Hulkenberg won hearts with the podium finish, IndyCar's race at Mid-Ohio went green. Conor Daly started the race in P13 after nearly missing out on advancing out of Round 1 of qualifying on Saturday.

Among the 13 drivers in Group 1, Daly's lap time of 1:05.7573 was the seventh-quickest. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver was a mere four-hundredths of a second slower than Kyffin Simpson, who was the last driver in the Top 6 to advance to Round 2. That put Daly 13th on the starting grid.

The race, however, was a different story. Conor Daly's No. 76 JHR squad put him on the preferred three-stop strategy. However, the pivotal moment came when Santino Ferrucci overtook him in Turn 4. As Daly went to get his position back in Turn 5 after a switcheroo, his AJ Foyt Racing rival drove him off the track and into the grass.

That allowed three more drivers to get past Daly. IndyCar gave Ferrucci a three-place penalty for the incident. After the race, Daly mocked his rival for the move.

"This clown literally drove himself off track trying to make sure he wrecked me 😂 @SantinoFerrucci brilliant as always," he wrote in an X post.

Daly eventually finished the race in a lowly P19, while Ferrucci secured a P16 result. Scott Dixon won the Mid-Ohio race by capitalizing on reigning champion Alex Palou's race-losing error with six laps left in the 90-lap race.