Renault Open Up on Why Nico Hulkenberg to Haas Deal Did Not Work

One of the biggest questions that has been asked this year is, what to do with Nico Hulkenberg? After being sidelined by Renault for 2020, he was exploring his options for the new season. One realistic option was the Haas F1 team, however he turned them down and they stuck with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.

However, Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul believes that Nico Hulkenberg will only drive for teams with more potential. Hulkenberg has been fairly vague on the reasons behind the talks breaking down between the two parties.

Speaking to Championat, Abiteboul said, “You have to look at what stage Nico’s career is at. He’s also not the kind of the person who is willing to be in Formula 1 just to be in Formula 1.”

“For him, Formula 1 is an ambition, a journey, not just a place to be. For him, the goals to be achieved are important, like the goals we have in our team.”

He praised Nico Hulkenberg for being experienced enough to understand the likelihood of achieving his goals at Haas. The Renault team principal affirmed that he was not showing any disrespect to Haas. However, he did say that the German driver would have been unable to achieve his desired results there.

“I think Nico can be an example,” the Frenchman added. “He is not someone who lacks ambition.”

Now, it seems that he is in talks with Alfa Romeo for a potential seat in 2020, alongside Kimi Raikkonen. However, Hulkenberg will have competition from current driver Antonio Giovinazzi.

As it turns out, the Italian is backed by Ferrari and his performance has been on the up in 2019. The good news is that Nico Hulkenberg shares a good relationship with Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur.

Vasseur opened up on his friendship and said, “There is no one who knows him better than me. He was champion in Formula 3 and Formula 2 on my team, so I brought him to Renault in 2017 as well.”