SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — Having lost his 2020 Renault seat to Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg‘s most obvious landing spot on next year’s grid would be alongside Kevin Magnussen at Haas.
Hulkenberg and Magnussen had an infamous spat after the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, following a collision on track. Hulkenberg sought out the Danish driver in the TV pen and sarcastically congratulated him on being “the most unsportive driver on the grid” — Magnussen replied “Suck my balls, mate” in a clip which instantly went viral afterwards.
The rivalry was also covered on Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ series, where Hulkenberg mentioned that Magnussen was one of the drivers he does not get on with.
Despite that history, Haas boss Guenther Steiner confirmed Thursday the German driver is up for consideration for a 2020 drive. The choice is simply between Hulkenberg and Magnussen’s current teammate, Romain Grosjean, who has himself collided with Magnussen on several occasions over the past 12 months.
Steiner was quick to reference that fact when asked if he would be willing to put Hulkenberg and Magnussen in the team together.
“I think we are running into each other even without history! We will manage,” Steiner joked.
“I don’t think about that, it’s about the team. We are all grown-ups, this is a business. I’m sure you have colleagues you don’t like to work with, but you still work with them because it’s a business. And I feel like this, we need to be practical on this stuff if it gets there.
“It is not a thing that would influence what we are doing. That is their problem, not ours, should it happen.”
Magnussen thinks the incident and the subject of his relationship with Hulkenberg has been overblown. .
“It’s been dramatised massively,” he said. “Between me and Nico there’s only been one incident, in Hungary one year ago. It’s incredible that we’re still talking about it.
“There’s not many drivers who are friends off the track. We say hi to each other when we see each other on the driver parade or whatever. There’s no issues between us.”
On the prospect of driving alongside Magnussen, Hulkenberg laughed and said: “I’d love to see that…
“A teammate is a teammate. You kind of have to accept him. Some you get on but you don’t have to get on, maybe it’s better, I don’t know. I don’t think it would be a deal-breaker for me.”
Following another question on the topic, he said: “No, have a bit of humour please. It’s no biggie.”
Hulkenberg was told about Renault’s decision on Monday this week. He admitted to the press he’s not had a proper chance to assess his next steps, but he is confident he will have several options — he also confirmed staying in F1 would remain his priority over a drive elsewhere.
“It’s not too late and there are still seats and options out there, it’s just also a matter of what I want and getting a good option and working that out.
“It depends on several factors, it’s never just one single thing. It’s the global deal, on the outlook of the team and then the other option you have I guess and then once you have all of that in front of you, you make an assessment and you decide what you want to do.
“I’m not that far ahead with things yet and I think it will still be a couple of weeks before I know.”