Nico Hulkenberg says reports of him switching to BMW’s DTM programme and leaving Formula 1 entirely are ‘fake news’.
Nico Hulkenberg has taken to Twitter to brand rumours of his future as ‘fake news’, following the publication of speculation his Formula 1 career is over.
As it stands, Hulkenberg’s career in F1 appears to be at an end on the racing front. Having been replaced at Renault for 2020 in favour of Esteban Ocon, the announcement of Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo appears to have been the last realistic cockpit available to Hulkenberg.
While Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Williams all have unconfirmed seats available, it’s not hugely likely that the German driver will find refuge at one of the Red Bull teams without a major upset in the form of the company dropping one of their own backed drivers in favour of Hulkenberg. Williams, too, look almost certain to sign Formula 2 DAMS driver Nicholas Latifi for their second cockpit.
Taking to Twitter, Hulkenberg shared a story from Motorsport-Total, saying: “Thank you @MST_Formel1 for the update to my future .. Next time maybe less pot beating ?! #FakeNews”
The story said that Hulkenberg’s F1 racing career is at a conclusion, and that he will swap to BMW’s DTM programme from 2020 – possibly while juggling a Formula 1 test or reserve role alongside.
There has been rumours suggesting that Hulkenberg will announce his 2020 plans on Tuesday, although there is no official confirmation of this.
Hulkenberg’s race in Austin last weekend was a strong one, despite getting off to a shakey start by falling from P11 to P13 on the opening lap. Utilising a two stop strategy, Hulkenberg overtook Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly in the closing laps to finish P9 and claim two points.
“I’m really happy to take two points today especially after losing some ground on lap one.” he said afterwards. “It was a race of two, contrasting halves for us. The first part wasn’t great, we lost places at Turn 1 and Turn 2 on the opening lap with some cars coming back onto the track in front of me.”
“That made things difficult, but then the second-half of the race was a lot of fun. We converted to a two-stop strategy, maybe a lap or two too late, which was my decision, but we then started catching others in front. We had good pace, some fun fights, so we can be pleased to score two points today.”
