'You're a Passenger' – Hulkenberg on Hair-raising Near-miss with Bortoleto in Dutch GP

Nico Hulkenberg wrapped up the Dutch Grand Prix in eighth place, but not without a pulse-quickening moment involving his Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoleto. The German driver described himself as "a passenger" as he narrowly avoided a collision after Bortoleto's high-speed spin.

The drama unfolded on the opening lap at the Zandvoort Circuit. While Max Verstappen had his own mishap, losing control of his Red Bull and meeting the barriers, it was further back where Hulkenberg had his close call. Bortoleto spun in dramatic fashion, performing a full 360-degree pirouette before rejoining the race, just missing Hulkenberg by a hair's breadth.

"It was scary, sketchy. You're a passenger," Hulkenberg remarked, reflecting on the incident. "I tried to react as late as possible and then just instinctively chose a side. On a wet track, it's sketchy and difficult. Luckily, we managed to avoid that."

Despite the heart-stopping start, Hulkenberg managed to outmaneuver Pierre Gasly's Alpine to secure four points for Audi. His efforts helped Audi inch closer to Haas in the Constructors' standings, now trailing by just five points, while pulling ahead of Williams by the same margin.

"Super important for the team and the championship, but for the mood, it gives everyone a lift," Hulkenberg said. "It confirms the work that we've put in, that we're in the right direction. Very pleased about it, also for me personally, it wasn't the easiest weekend Saturday and Friday. Feels very nice and sweet to come away with something at the end and on a good note."

As for Bortoleto, his race didn't quite have the same happy ending. After his spin, he restarted from 17th and ultimately finished 13th. "I don't think the first lap is the issue today but it doesn't help for sure," he commented. "I just saw big smoke, I think it was Max who crashed and then I maybe made a small reaction on the steering. I just felt something and then I also lost the car, did a 360 [spin], came back."

Bortoleto hinted at underlying issues but chose to keep the specifics under wraps for now. "But the issues go a little bit further than that. I don't want to go too much into details because I don't know if I can say, but we just need to understand some stuff that happened today and we move on."

Overall, the Dutch Grand Prix provided plenty of thrills and a few scares, but for Hulkenberg and Audi, it was a weekend that ended on a positive note.