Damon Hill recalls Adrian Newey’s blunt Nico Hulkenberg car design remark

Adrian Newey allegedly referred to current Audi F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg as “too big from the waist up” for one of his cars.

Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion and former colleague of Newey at Williams, claimed Newey made the comment about Hulkenberg and demonstrates how “every little bit is calculated” in F1 design.

Adrian Newey comment on Nico Hulkenberg physique recalled by Damon Hill

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Having designed title-winning machinery for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, Newey has established himself as one of the greatest car designers in Formula 1 history.

His latest quest has taken him to Aston Martin, a team building its foundations with future title challenges in mind.

During an appearance on The Undercut podcast, Hill brought up a comment which Newey apparently made to him about Nico Hulkenberg, a former Aston Martin driver.

At 1.84 metres, Hulkenberg is one of the tallest drivers in Formula 1. It is his upper body height which apparently put Newey off.

Hulkenberg was previously considered for a Red Bull drive, at the time Newey was with the team.

“If you could design drivers, then he’d be away,” Hill said of the design guru.

“I remember once him talking about Hulkenberg. He said, ‘What do you think of Hulkenberg?’ ‘He’s pretty decent’. ‘The trouble is he’s too big from the waist up’.

“In other words, he was taking into account the effect on the chassis of the guy’s physique, as being sufficiently negative to offset whatever benefit he brought as a driver.

“So, sorry, Nico, but you know, nothing you could do about that. Chop your arm off, I suppose!

“But, it really was that important to [Newey]. Every little bit is calculated. Any kind of extra weight above the centre line of the car is no good.”

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Hulkenberg was in contention for a 2021 Red Bull seat, it was recently confirmed by Helmut Marko, then Red Bull’s senior advisor.

Ultimately, the team went with Sergio Perez as the new teammate to Max Verstappen.

Perez’s 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix win, his first in Formula 1, tipped the scales in his favour, and landed him the drive.

At that time, Newey was busy designing the Red Bull RB16B which Verstappen drove to his first world championship in 2021.

Hulkenberg spent that season as Aston Martin’s reserve driver, and made two stand-in appearances the following year, before he returned to the grid with Haas in 2023.

He joined Sauber in 2025, and remained for the team’s Audi F1 evolution.

Hulkenberg scored his long-awaited first Formula 1 podium with Sauber at the 2025 British Grand Prix, his 239th race start.

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