Nico Hulkenberg suffered a freak injury on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
received treatment for an eye injury after the opening day of pre-season testing after being hit with a shard of debris while work was carried out in the garage at the Bahrain International Circuit.
According to a report from Sky Germany, Hulkenberg was hit with a “tiny splinter” of debris after Sauber attempted some grinding work in their garage. The 37-year-old was struck in the eye by the shard of C45 and required treatment.
As a result of the splinter, Hulkenberg was forced to cut his testing run short, and also missed the post-session press conference. Fortunately, the injury was not serious, and the German racer returned to the cockpit on Thursday morning.
Hulkenberg enjoyed his first testing opportunity with Sauber in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi in December, although his outing on Wednesday morning was the experienced German’s first taste of the C45.
Sauber endured a miserable 2024 campaign ahead of Hulkenberg’s arrival. scored a career-best P8 finish in Qatar to help the Hinwil squad avoid a pointless season, but for the most part, the Chinese driver spent the year competing with Valtteri Bottas for the bottom two positions on the track.
According to Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz, Sauber could be in for another tough year ahead of the Audi transition in 2026. “I hope Gabriel Bortoleto has a better run than has had this morning,” he said on Wednesday.
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Hulkenberg picked up his injury within the confines of the garage (Image: Getty)
“Because, if body language is anything to go by, and I’ve followed Hulkenberg’s entire F1 career, he hasn’t had the most happy session. He’s just got out of the car. It looks like they’re breaking for an early lunch, an hour and a half before the break in Bahrain. Enough time for Hulkenberg to get out and debrief with his engineer.
“Optimistically, it looks like Sauber are steady at the moment. There was some attention to the right-hand side of the floor, which some mechanics have been taking a look at. Hulkenberg has been talking to Mattia Binotto at the back of the garage, giving his debrief. There weren’t many smiles! Rubbing the head, scratching the chin…”
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Kravitz added: “The car? Sauber seems to have improved, not a huge one. There is a different front wing, the nose looks the same. Obviously, they’ve got a lot of improvement to find.”
While Sauber will be desperate to maximise their improvement in 2025, they are one of many teams focusing on the 2026 technical regulation changes. With Audi bringing a bespoke power unit on board, it will all change at Hinwil in 12 months.