(Motorsport-Total.com) – Nico Hülkenberg had not imagined the start of the 2026 season like this. The German is still waiting for his first points of the season after five races and currently stands at zero points. Teammate Gabriel Bortoleto secured the only two points for the Audi team so far with ninth place in Australia.
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But the veteran is not alone in his suffering: Four other drivers are also still waiting for their first points of the season this year: namely the four drivers of the current backmarkers Cadillac and Aston Martin – Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, and Fernando Alonso.
This is especially bitter for the Spaniard, as his points tally was also zero after five races last year. This is now the fifth time this has happened after 2001, 2015, 2017, and 2025.
Last year, one fewer driver had an empty account. But with Cadillac entering as a new team, 17 drivers have already scored points this year, compared to 16 last year.
Looking back one more year, the top 10 was much less varied, as at that time even seven out of 20 drivers were still waiting for their first points.
With Alpine (Pierre Gasly & Esteban Ocon), Sauber (Guanyu Zhou & Valtteri Bottas), and Williams (Alexander Albon & Logan Sargeant), three complete teams were even without points.
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2024 is an exception in this regard, as there were not as many drivers without points in previous years. In 2023 and 2022, 18 out of 20 drivers had already scored points after five races, with only Logan Sargent and Nyck de Vries as well as Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi still not having scored.
Oh yes: And Nico Hülkenberg, who only competed in two races as a substitute for Sebastian Vettel.
Photo series: Still without points after five races: The F1 record of recent years
In our photo series, we want to take a look at how many drivers have been without points in the standings after five races since the introduction of the current points system awarding points up to tenth place and how this has developed. Drivers who only stepped into the car as substitutes were not considered.
Not surprisingly, the early 2010s stand out, where up to nine drivers still had an empty points account. At that time, there were 24 drivers, four more than today, and with Lotus/Caterham, Virgin/Marussia, and HRT, three new teams that never really caught up with the field until the end of their existence and, with one exception, never scored points.
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