Force India surprised by Nico Hülkenberg’s departure
Last week, Nico Hülkenberg surprised the F1 world by announcing his departure from the Force India team for Renault. In doing so, he launched the transfer market and left a coveted seat available.
Vijay Mallya, Force India’s director, had made the decision not to retain his driver despite a contract that bound him to the team next year. Regarding this departure, Robert Fernley, deputy director of Force India, spoke in the pages of Autosport. When asked if the team expected such a departure, he replied in the negative: «We had no suspicions. »
He did not expect Renault to attempt to approach Nico Hülkenberg, especially knowing that Sergio Perez was once in discussions with Renault before confirming his presence at Force India in 2017 at the beginning of October.
The question that is now on everyone’s lips and will concern the leaders of Force India is: Who will replace the experienced driver Nico Hülkenberg? The list of contenders for this seat is long. Robert Fernley states, “There will be no rush in making a decision, given the number of contenders.” He continues by saying that the consideration for the vacant seat will only take place after the Mexican Grand Prix: “There is no need for us to make a quick decision. Ultimately, the decision is Vijay Mallya’s, and it will only be made once we return from Mexico.”
Among the aspiring drivers, Pascal Wehrlein can be highlighted. He is a rookie driver with Manor Racing this season and has been part of the Mercedes driver development program since 2014. He won the DTM championship in 2015. At the same time, he conducted tests with Force India at Silverstone that same year. He confirmed to the German media, during the last round of the DTM championship in Hockenheim, that he is in talks with Force India for the next season: « There is a vacant seat at Force India, so of course we are in discussions with them for the next season. »
Pascal Wehrlein adds that he is not surprised to see a seat become available at Force India: “It wasn’t a surprise for me to see that there was a seat available (…) At first there were rumors about Sergio Pérez and right after they signed Nico Hülkenberg. There’s no smoke without fire.”
In any case, despite public statements or behind-the-scenes negotiations, there are still four races remaining to come and contest. Robert Fernley, Vijay Mallya, and Nico Hülkenberg all agree that the end-of-season goal is to focus on these remaining races in the fight for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship against Williams.
The time has come for focus at Force India, in order to finish the 2016 championship in the best way possible before turning towards 2017. Sergio Pérez will have to wait to learn the name of his future teammate.
