Nico Hulkenberg apologises as first ever F1 podium sees Lewis Hamilton denied

Nico Hulkenberg has jokingly said sorry to the Silverstone fans after he clinched his first ever podium finish in Formula One by edging out Lewis Hamilton for third at the British Grand Prix. The German driver, who started his F1 journey in 2010 with Williams, finally celebrated a podium after 239 races. Hulkenberg crossed the finish line 5.07 seconds before Hamilton, who had to settle for fourth place, marking his longest stretch without a podium since his second-place finish in Las Vegas 14 races prior.

The affable Hulkenberg offered a light-hearted apology to the home crowd for pipping Hamilton to the podium. "It feels good. It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? But I always knew we have it in us, I have it in me, somewhere," he remarked post-race. "What a race. Coming from virtually last, doing it all over again from last weekend. It's pretty surreal, to be honest. I'm not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy, mixed conditions.

"It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. I think we just were really on it with the right calls, the right tyres in the right moment, made no mistakes - quite incredible."

"I was in denial until probably the last pit stop, but then when I heard we gapped Lewis quite a bit with the one extra lap, I was like, 'ok, this is good, this is some breathing space.' But then he was catching quite quickly, so the pressure was there.

"It was an intense race but we didn't crack, no mistakes, and obviously really, really happy with that. I was thinking that he's going to give it all in front of his home crowd, and I was like, 'sorry guys, but it's also my day.' I had to stick my neck out. I'm super happy."

Despite Hamilton not securing a podium spot at Silverstone, fellow Brit Lando Norris clinched his maiden home Grand Prix victory and couldn't hide his elation. "It is beautiful," Norris exclaimed post-race.

"Apart from a championship, this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings. Incredible race, stressful as always but the support from the fans made the difference, so I have to thank them.

"The main thing is don't f*** it up, that is rule number one. It might never happen again, hope it does, but these are memories I'll have forever.

"As far as being a stressful race, it's as stressful as it gets. A round of applause for Oscar as he put in a good race, he was fast. Credit to him and of course McLaren, to win at home is pretty amazing."