Following the well-trodden path of most great drivers, Nico Hulkenberg began his career on the kart track. After starting at the tender age of ten back in 1997, within five years Hulkenberg was already making waves. In 2002 he was named German junior karting champion and the following year, after progressing up the ranks, won the German karting championship proper. Sixteen years earlier, a young Michael Schumacher had clinched the very same title. It was a fact not lost on Schumacher's legendary manager Willi Weber, who promptly signed up the young lad from Emmerich. By 2004 Hulkenberg had added an Italian Junior Championship to his list of achievements and Weber began looking for a way into single-seater racing for his young protege.