The German has revealed that his last chance to return to Formula One was for the 2022 season, but he confesses that there is no possibility for him to do so.
Nico Hulkenberg has stated that he will not return to Formula One in the future, since his final chance to compete on the grid in 2022 has passed him by.
The only clear seat open for next year is at Alfa Romeo. Current drivers Antonio Giovinazzi, Guanyu Zhou, and Nyck de Vries are all in the running to be Valtteri Bottas’ teammate, but not Hulkenberg.
“There are no talks with Alfa Romeo,” Hulkenberg told the German daily BILD. “That would have been the last option for a permanent seat in 2022, after all other cockpits had been taken.”
“Life goes on. I have exciting requests from other motorsport series, so there’s no hurry to make a decision. I’m going to sort everything out and see how it goes.”
Hulkenberg lost his seat at Renault at the end of 2019, when he was replaced by Esteban Ocon. He made three appearances last year at Racing Point, filling in for Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll, who were both suffering with coronavirus.
The German has the statistic that no F1 driver wants: the most race starts without a podium, despite coming close on multiple occasions.
During his debut season, Hulkenberg took an incredible pole position for Williams at the Brazilian GP, which was one of his best moments in the sport.
He also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche in 2015, so he might make the switch to the World Endurance Championship full-time next year.
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