At the third round in Malaysia, Hülkenberg made it to Q3 for the first time, qualifying in 5th place; out-qualifying teammate Barrichello for the first time. Barrichello stalled at the start due to an overheating clutch, while Hulkenberg started well. He looked set to finish eleventh in the race until Fernando Alonso blew his engine three laps from the end, thus promoting Hülkenberg to tenth place and with the new-for-2010 points system, Hülkenberg scored his first ever Formula One points. The car looked to be a good midfield contender, but in China the cars both finished in non-points positions.