Nico Hulkenberg has indicated his Formula 1 career is now over after failing to secure a return in 2022.
The German lost his full-time seat at Renault at the end of 2019 before making three substitute appearances for Racing Point last year.
Hulkenberg is still the reserve driver at the team now known as Aston Martin, but with no route back to the grid, it appears he is set to shift his racing focus elsewhere.
“There are no talks with Alfa Romeo,” he confirmed to Germany’s Bild. “That would have been the last option for a permanent seat in 2022 after all the other cockpits have been taken.
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“Life goes on. I have exciting requests from other motorsport series, so there’s no hurry to make a decision. I’m going to sort everything out and see how it goes.”
With his apparent change of focus, Hulkenberg will leave F1 still as the driver with the most race starts without a podium with 179, having finished fourth on three occasions.
Nico of course also crashed out while fighting for the win at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012.
As for his next destination, Hulkenberg has previously competed in the WEC, winning the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours in a one-off appearance with Porsche, and the endurance series is the most likely destination for the 34-year-old next year.