Nico Hulkenberg said he is relaxed about his prospects of a 2021 race seat after being linked to Red Bull for next season.
Hulkenberg has appeared for Racing Point on two occasions as a stand-in this season, putting his name back into contention for the remaining 2021 seats. Red Bull’s Helmut Marko has admitted Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez would be on the team’s radar were it to move on from under-pressure Thai driver Alex Albon, who is yet to secure his future beyond this season.
Speaking to the ESPN F1 Podcast, Hulkenberg suggested he has not looked much outside of F1 yet because there are still opportunities available to him.
On 2021, he said: “We’re still figuring that out to be honest, I don’t know the answer to that question. As we know there is teams very much in control and in the process of making their choices. Obviously my name is linked with a few teams so its waiting to see what they feel and what they want to do.
“Not necessarily looking at outside F1. A little bit, of course I have to be aware of it. I’m not someone who needs to rush into the next thing or cockpit now.
“I think I need to be clear first really what I want to do – F1, if the door is closed, fine, I’ll look at the next thing and what I want to do and if I want to do it. But we’re not quite there yet.”
He added: “I’m not too stressed about it. I delivered this year when I had the chance this year, that’s the one thing if you’re not fully doing a season it’s kind of difficult, you’re not that visible and people tend to forget quickly.
“They always just tend to just remember the last race. Not so easy to make an impression so it so I was very happy to be able to receive some races and perform well, I think I did what I had to do and now it’s up to them.”
Hulkenberg’s old Force India teammate Perez is also yet to find a seat for next season and finds himself in a similar situation in terms of speculation about next year. Hulkenberg has no doubts the Mexican will end up somewhere.
“Of course, in a way unlucky for Checo, but maybe also lucky for him, we don’t know yet! Depends where he ends up I guess. But he’s definitely one of the drivers who needs to be on the grid, [at Portimao] he did an epic drive I felt, super good job, and I’m not worried he won’t get a drive.”