F1 fans think Nico Hulkenberg 'cooked' Oscar Piastri with brutally honest comment in Silverstone cooldown room

Nico Hulkenberg had his greatest ever Formula One race at the British Grand Prix and fans think he 'cooked' Oscar Piastri in the cooldown room afterwards.

Hulkenberg debuted in F1 back in 2010 and has endured a topsy-turvy journey on the track, going on to represent Williams, Force India and Haas.

But the German had a tough time and previously held unwanted record for the most F1 races without a podium finish - until he finally ended that drought with an excellent display at Silverstone for Sauber, who will rebrand into Audi next season.

At the 239th time of asking, Hulkenberg secured a podium finish - coming in third after McLaren picked up the one-two with Lando Norris pipping teammate Oscar Piastri in wet conditions.

After an emotional radio message to his team as he kept out Lewis Hamilton and crossed the finish line, Hulkenberg made his way to the cooldown room for the first time ever.

It was a new experience for the 37-year-old, who hilariously forgot to bring his crash helmet in and required Norris to do the honours for them.

He and Piastri were in there first, with the Australian furious about the costly 10-second penalty imposed on him for misjudging the safety car.

Hulkenberg was in the cooldown room for the first time in his career. Image: F1 TV

What did Nico Hulkenberg say to Oscar Piastri?

Hulkenberg asked Piastri if he and Norris fought "at the front", to which he explained that he was given a penalty for breaking behind the safety car on the second restart.

Piastri was bemused by his punishment but after a priceless facial expression, Hulkenberg explained the impact his move had, stating, "It caused a lot of... I went off almost into the back of Pierre [Gasly] and Lance [Stroll]."

And plenty of fans believe Hulkenberg was in the right with his assessment, with one stating: "Yes Nico thank you. Oscar should know the rules about the safety car."

A second wrote: "He may only get one chance to be in the cooldown room in his career…gotta put it to use!"

A third commented: "I caught that too. You could see the realization.. that was you!?"

The stunning win on home soil for Norris means he has closed the gap between himself and Piastri to eight points ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix later this month.

Hulkenberg, meanwhile, is up to ninth after arguably the greatest achievement of his career.

Speaking to 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button for Sky Sports, Hulkenberg said: "It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? But, yeah, I always knew, you know, we have it in us. I have it in me somewhere.

“I mean, what a race coming from virtually last you know, doing it all over again, from last weekend.

“It's pretty surreal, to be honest. Not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy conditions, mixed conditions.

“It was, you know, survival fight for a lot of the race, I think we just were really on it. The right calls, the right tyres in the right moment, made no mistakes. And, quite, quite incredible.”