Nico Hulkenberg Admits He’ll Miss F1, Sad to Leave the Sport

Nico Hulkenberg may not be in Formula One for the 2020 season but this may not the last we see of him. To that end, he insists that retirement from Formula 1 is not an option.

However, he has accepted his fate of losing his place on the grid next year. The German driver recently opened up to Sky F1 about his “sad” departure and future ambitions.

Admittedly, Nico Hulkenberg is a highly-rated driver with a decade’s worth of experience in F1. Sadly, he will be replaced by Esteban Ocon at Renault in the 2020 Formula One season.

The fact that teammate Daniel Ricciardo has outperformed him in his debut season has not helped his case. The Australian’s performance has even prompted Renault to drop the F1 veteran and the driver who was best of the rest last year.

The 32-year old was confident of securing a berth in Formula One earlier this year. Unfortunately, his options have whittled down as the months passed and the only ‘realistic’ seat, is at Williams.

“It looks like, in all honesty, that there is no seat available now,” Hulkenberg told Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle.

Speaking of Williams, that door is also slamming shut in Hulkenberg’s face. This is because, they are expected to confirm F2 runner-up Nicholas Latifi as George Russell’s teammate for 2020.

“I guess it’s not the right seat for me and the timing … I’m not the right person for them to be honest,” Hulkenberg admitted earlier this year.

“I’m not retiring. I love Formula 1, I love what we do here, I love the competition. I can live with it, I think 10 years is a long time and a fair share of Formula 1.”

“But for sure I’m going to miss it next year when I have to watch the first race on TV.”

Away from Formula One, Nico Hulkenberg has been linked to Formula E, IndyCar, World Endurance Championship and DTM. Formula E has actually been known as a hotbed of ex-Formula One drivers and every single FE champion is a former F1 driver. However, Hulkenberg has since dismissed those option and is staring at a year out of full-time racing, the second time he has done so.

“I’m definitely a fan of open-wheeler racing,” he added. “(2020) will be a true test for me, because all my life has been about racing and now not to have that will be quite a shock and quite a contrast. It’s a bit into the unknown but it’s definitely an exciting time ahead.”