Signed contract? “Yup!”

(Motorsport-Total.com) – When Nico Hülkenberg is a guest at Hangar-7 in Salzburg, on the Red Bull indoor station ‘ServusTV’ talk show, it almost inevitably leads to speculation. But host Andreas Gröbl takes the cow off the ice on Monday night right at the start of the show and asks the 33-year-old what everyone wants to know: “Have you signed yet?” To which Hulkenberg replies very coldly: “Yes, I want it!”

At the latest, all spectators are demure, but the alleged feeling is immediately resolved with a wink. He has not signed a contract with Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s teammate for 2021, but rather “a new home loan and savings agreement”, from which he expects “a decent return”, smiles Hulkenberg.

“Otherwise there is nothing to report. It is very, very quietly current,” he reveals. “The news has calmed down a bit and I think it will take a while before it is really clear.”

When “ServusTV” calls, this too is clear, Hulkenberg can hardly say no at the moment. Even if the desired Formula 1 cockpit doesn’t work, it is very popular with Red Bull. Plan B would be a new job as a “ServusTV” expert. The station secured Austrian live rights for Formula 1 for the first time in 2021.

Helmut Marko revealed some time ago that Hülkenberg is one of the favorite candidates for it. And if he’s already there at the races, in the worst case scenario, he could at least take over the position of replacement driver for the two Red Bull teams. Probably not his dream scenario, but interesting career prospects nonetheless.

After Red Bull team boss Christian Horner indicated in Istanbul that the decision on the second driver may not be made until after the season finale on December 13 in Abu Dhabi, Hülkenberg is currently letting the development “come to me” . Unlike Sergio Perez, who has already hinted that he would like a decision to be made soon.

“I’m really relaxed about that,” says Hulkenberg. “It’s not in my hands. So I’m getting ready. And of course I hope there will be another comeback and a chance. Where obviously I would be very motivated and warm. But we just need a little patience until it is. then the final decision there. “

Therefore, he thinks “nothing” of calling squad leaders who still have a free cockpit for 2021 afterwards: “The cards are in,” says Hülkenberg – and reveals: “Of course I have people supporting me in the Background. But these things, these contacts, the first conversations, I usually do. “

But there isn’t much to talk about. Marko knows that Hülkenberg would like to come to Red Bull and during his guest departure at Racing Point he showed what he can do with the current Formula 1 cars. “Obviously you are in touch with the people where things are going. But now not all of them. weeks, not every day, “says the German.

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, which has recently regained momentum, it cannot be excluded that the final “triple header” in the Middle East will unexpectedly open a door. But Hülkenberg does not explicitly hope for this: “If he does, then he is completely unpredictable and in any case unpredictable”.

“Of course I can’t take it for granted and I don’t expect anything to happen every weekend somehow. But of course it can happen. We know ourselves how unpredictable the current situation is. So I just have to keep fit and ready. And I do too. “, points out.