Hülkenberg began karting at age ten and won the German Junior Karting Championship in 2002. He dominated the 2005 German Formula BMW series and almost single-handedly delivered Germany the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix championship with nine wins. After finishing fifth in the German Formula Three series in 2006, he won the prestigious Masters of Formula 3 race in 2007 and then claimed the Formula 3 Euro Series title in 2008. He joined ART Grand Prix in GP2 for 2009 and won the championship in his debut season, becoming only the third rookie to do so after Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
Hülkenberg made his Formula One race debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix with Williams alongside Rubens Barrichello. He finished sixth in Hungary, then claimed his maiden Formula One pole position — and Williams's first since the 2005 European Grand Prix — at the Brazilian Grand Prix in a wet qualifying session, beating Sebastian Vettel by over a second. He lost the lead on the opening lap and finished eighth. Despite his strong performance, Williams replaced him with Pastor Maldonado, who brought greater sponsorship funding.
After a year as Force India's reserve driver in 2011, Hülkenberg joined the team full-time for 2012 alongside Paul di Resta. He outqualified his teammate in twelve of nineteen races and finished the season 17 points ahead of him. His best result came at the Belgian Grand Prix with fourth place. At the finale in Brazil he led the race before sliding into Lewis Hamilton on lap 55, incurring a drive-through penalty and ultimately finishing fifth — his clearest opportunity for a win or podium lost in the closing laps.
A season with Sauber in 2013 produced a career-best fourth at the Korean Grand Prix. He returned to Force India for 2014 alongside Sergio Pérez and recorded his highest championship finish to that point — ninth with 96 points — through consistent scoring. He stayed with Force India for 2015 and 2016, and moved to Renault Sport for 2017.
Hülkenberg spent three seasons at Renault. He finished seventh in the championship in 2018 with 69 points — the best midfield result that year — and was widely regarded as the de facto leader of the non-top-three teams. A first lap collision in Belgium that year launched Fernando Alonso's car over Charles Leclerc's, and the incident caused Hülkenberg to concede that the halo device, which he had publicly opposed, was "pretty useful". He was released at the end of 2019 in favour of Esteban Ocon, reportedly after refusing a one-year contract extension.
Without a full-time seat in 2020, Hülkenberg made three substitute appearances for Racing Point: twice replacing Sergio Pérez during the British Grand Prix weekend after Pérez tested positive for COVID-19, and once replacing Lance Stroll at the Eifel Grand Prix. At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix he qualified an unlikely third before finishing seventh. He served as the team's reserve driver under the Aston Martin name in 2021 and 2022, making two further race appearances replacing Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia after Vettel contracted COVID-19.
Hülkenberg returned full-time with Haas for 2023 and 2024 alongside Kevin Magnussen. He was praised for his qualifying performances — reaching Q3 eleven times in 2023 despite the car lacking race pace — but scored only nine points for the year to Magnussen's three. In 2024 he showed stronger race results including sixth places at the Austrian and British Grands Prix. He was disqualified from the São Paulo Grand Prix for receiving external assistance to rejoin the track. He departed Haas at the end of the season.
Hülkenberg joined Sauber for 2025 ahead of Audi's acquisition of the team. After a difficult mid-season stretch, upgraded machinery lifted Sauber into contention. At the rain-affected British Grand Prix, starting nineteenth, Hülkenberg drove a perfectly-timed strategy to finish third — his first Formula One podium in 239 starts, ending the longest wait for a podium in the sport's history. He held off Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps to secure Sauber's first podium result in thirteen years. He remained with the team, re-branded as Audi, for the 2026 season.
In 2015, Hülkenberg contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche alongside Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber in the third factory Porsche 919 Hybrid. They completed 395 laps to win overall — one lap clear of the Webber/Hartley/Bernhard sister car — giving Porsche their first outright Le Mans victory since 1998. Hülkenberg became the first active Formula One driver to win Le Mans since Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot in 1991.