Guided by Michael Schumacher's manager Willi Weber, Nico Hulkenberg rose through the karting ranks in Germany before making his single seater debut in Formula BMW in 2005 and taking the title at a canter.

Hulkenberg competed in German F3 in 2006 while also racing in the A1GP series. It would prove a strong season with Hulkenberg notching up nine wins en route to the championship with Team Germany.

Hulkenberg was invited to join the Williams team in testing in December 2007 and shortly afterwards was confirmed as the team's test driver for the 2008 season. It would however prove to be a relatively sparse F1 programme for Hulkenberg who opted to combine his occasional Formula One test with a full F3 Euroseries season with ART Grand Prix.

With seven wins from 20 starts, Hulkenberg took championship honours and will continue his Williams role in 2009 while also making his GP2 debut.