Nico Hulkenberg has ruled out taking on a reserve driver role in 2021 as he seeks a return to the grid.
The German is back on the sidelines again after filling in for Sergio Perez at Racing Point for the two races at Silverstone earlier this month.
But after qualifying a remarkable third for the second race, names like Max Verstappen immediately praised Hulkenberg by claiming he should still have a place in Formula 1.
Since then, Nico has been linked to seats both at Alfa Romeo and Haas for next year although he admits any progress remainss slow at the moment.
“[I’ve been] talking to a lot of people since the beginning of the year,” he revealed to Motorsport-Magazin.com. “Silverstone hasn’t changed that. The process runs constantly in the background.
“During the brief comeback, honestly, nothing was going on because you concentrate on the work. The important thing was simply to deliver a good performance when you have the chance. Planning the future is part of a bigger process.”
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One team claiming to have heard from Hulkenberg is Red Bull, with advisor Helmut Marko revealing he has, just like last year, made them aware of his obvious availability.
“He was away for half a year, comes back and puts the car on P3. It was a great performance,” the Austrian was quoted by the German publication as saying about his Silverstone return.
“He let us know that he is available, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be in the car with us.
“If everyone comes to us about whom I say that he drove a great race, we should have a team with 10 cars.
“If one of them performs well and you acknowledge that, it doesn’t mean that he’ll get a contract with us because of it.
“It is sporting fairness.”
Recently, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff didn’t rule out a third driver role for Hulkenberg for 2021, but that is of little interest to the 33-year-old.
“I personally do not see myself in the role of reserve driver,” he said.
“I sat in a race cockpit for 10 years and stood at the start lights, so accepting a step backwards without much chance of getting back in makes little sense to me. That’s not the path I want to take.”
After impressing during his Silverstone comeback, it’s not implausible other teams could look to Hulkenberg should another driver test positive for Covid-19.
Although, the man himself doesn’t see that as a high possibility.
“I don’t expect any more races this season,” he confirmed. “Of course something can always happen during corona, but I don’t expect it.
“I keep myself fit and ready as far as I can but I don’t think it will happen every other week now. I’m working on my return for 2021.”
