Playing the long game the Nico Hulkenberg way

There must have been a moment when Nico Hulkenberg wondered if he would ever finish on a podium in Formula One. Maybe it was back in 2020 during his spell as a pundit on German television, when there were no seats on the grid left. It may have even come when Hulkenberg started in 19th place at Silverstone in last weekend’s British Grand Prix.

His accomplishment, finishing inside the top three for the first time after 239 starts, is an astonishing feat of perseverance. Not so much for the result itself, third and almost 35 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris, but for Hulkenberg’s unwavering belief he belonged with the best in the sport when, rationally, most would have packed it in long ago. Wet races such as last Sunday’s invited chaos and Hulkenberg took advantage with smart tyre choices to finish third, an achievement met with collective euphoria in the paddock seeing a veteran have his moment in the sun. Norris’s victory was, some would say, overshadowed.

Hulkenberg joined a group of first-time achievers made to wait into the back end of their careers for that elusive glory.

Bryan Robson

Robson was 19 when he initially played in the First Division with West Bromwich following their promotion in 1976. His move to Manchester United – for a British record £1.5million in 1981 – produced three FA Cups but no league title until he was 36, when United became the first side to lift the new Premier League trophy in 1993. United then won the league the following season, too.

Miran Bakhsh

The second-oldest player to make his debut in a men’s Test match, the Pakistan offspinner was in his final season of first-class cricket in 1955 when he was called up at 47 years and 284 days. Bakhsh took two wickets in two matches. Not quite the oldest debutant ever. That honour goes to England’s James Southerton at 49 years and 119 days in the first-ever Test, against Australia in 1877.

Flavia Pennetta

A successful doubles player, Pennetta’s 2015 US Open singles win was a stunner, defeating her compatriot Roberta Vinci 7-6, 6-2 in the final. Pennetta and Vinci knocked out Simona Halep and Serena Williams, the No 2 and No 1 seeds in the semi-finals to set up an unexpected showpiece event in New York, a battle between two Italian players who had first faced each other aged nine. Pennetta triumphed in straight sets before announcing on court her imminent retirement at the end of the year.

John Barnum and Richard Bland

The oldest first-time winners of a PGA Tour and European Tour event respectively. Barnum, at 51, won by six strokes at the enjoyably named Cajun Classic Open Invitational in 1962. Bland was a sprightly 48, and far more active than Barnum. His win at the Betfred British Masters back in 2021 was Bland’s 478th start having first joined the European Tour back in 2002, when he lost a four-way play-off. Nineteen years later, he made the most of his shot at redemption.

Simon Shaw

Being selected for a British & Irish Lions tour is an enormous honour, but to play a Test for the touring side remains the pinnacle for any player from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Shaw, then with Bristol, went on the victorious 1997 Lions tour to South Africa without featuring in any Tests. He missed out on selection in 2001, was an injury replacement in 2005, then became the oldest player in the 2009 Lions squad aged 36. Twelve years after his first Lions tour, Shaw won his first Test cap in an agonising defeat by South Africa and was named player of the match.

Jerry Barber

Barber’s triumph at the 1961 PGA Championship certainly came as a surprise. A string of remarkable putts including one from 60ft – Barber was an excellent putter – led to him forcing his way into a rain-delayed Monday play-off with Don January, winning by a single stroke. Barber had turned professional way back in 1942 aged 26, with his first and only major win coming at the age of 45 years and 97 days.

Sally Barton

Last year, at the age of 66 and 334 days, Barton became the oldest player to feature in an International Cricket Council (ICC) sanctioned match when the wicketkeeper made her debut in a T20 international for Gibraltar against Estonia. “I never thought I would play international cricket in my sixties, but it goes to show that you should not let anyone tell you it is time to stop playing sport,” Barton told the BBC following her debut. She has played in a further nine T20 internationals.

Andrew Whitworth

Drafted into the NFL in 2006 by the Cincinnati Bengals, Whitworth – a 6ft 7in, 330lb offensive tackle tasked with protecting the quarterback – was an excellent player who made multiple Pro Bowls. But winning a Super Bowl eluded him until he moved to Los Angeles to join the Rams. At the age of 40, Whitworth and the Rams defeated his old side 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI in his final game. He remains the oldest offensive lineman to play in and win a Super Bowl. A word too for John Elway, the former Broncos quarterback, who, at 37, finally won a Super Bowl in his 15th season with Denver back in 1997. Like football’s Bryan Robson, Elway also then won the Super Bowl the following year for back-to-back championships after a long wait.

Fay Crocker

Uruguay’s Crocker won multiple golf major titles in her career. All her victories came in her 40s – she only turned professional at the age of 39. At the 1955 Serbin Open, Crocker won by a stroke aged 40 years and 201 days to become the oldest first-time winner of an LPGA title. She followed that by winning the 1955 US Women’s Open, her first major, then won another at the 1960 Titleholders Championship. That latter victory made her the oldest women’s player to win a major at 45 years and 224 days, a record which still stands.

Andrés Gimeno

Gimeno flirted with victory in a tennis major before his triumph, reaching the final of the Australian Open in 1969 – where he was beaten by Rod Laver – and the semi-finals at Wimbledon the next year. He finally succeeded at the 1972 French Open with a win in four sets over Patrick Proisy, recovering after he lost the opening set. Gimeno was 34 years and 306 days old. Had he not spent most of the 1960s as a touring professional, barring him from the Grand Slams, then his maiden victory may have come a lot earlier.