Hulk gets the heave-ho, Rubens extends his stay
- Published on Nov 15th, 2010 by Jack LamureYesterday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was Nico Hulkenberg’s last at the wheel of a Williams car.
The young German, who scored a stunning pole position for last weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, will leave the team at the end of the year. He announced the split on his website this morning, suggesting that the two parties couldn't come to an agreement on a new contract.
Photo credit: nicohulkenberg.net
“I heavily regret that, because I would have been happy to stay with Williams,” said the Hulk. “I want to thank the team for a great time and I wish Williams all the best for the future.”
However Nico plans to be in F1 in 2011 and his manager Willi Weber says he's working to find his man a new home.
“I am negotiating with other teams,” said Weber. “Nico will have his seat in F1 in 2011.”
Meanwhile Williams have confirmed that Rubens Barrichello will remain with them next season. The Brazilian has enjoyed a strong 2010 campaign, frequently mixing it with the top-ten in qualifying. He will thus extend his recording breaking tally of 306 grand prix entries.
“We recruited Rubens to Williams knowing that he would bring technical expertise, experience and passion," said Frank Williams. "He has delivered everything we could have hoped for this season and we are delighted to confirm that he will drive for us again in 2011.”
Well-funded GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado is the favourite to join Barrichello next year, though experienced drivers such as Nick Heidfeld and Adrian Sutil have been linked with the seat in recent weeks.
Hulkenberg’s options are limited, with Renault the only front-end team yet to confirm both drivers for next year. Force India may have a vacancy, but should he fail to land one of these seats his best bet appears to be at Hispania. However he is believed to have turned down the chance to go on loan to Spanish squad as part of a new multi-year deal with Williams.
His prospects don't look great right now.
What do you think of the Hulk getting the heave-ho? Make your opinions heard!
oh and i’d love to see a mark webber movie he is the most...
Comments and Discussion
I think it's a sad reality of the sport that a team has to get rid of a decent driver just because of money. Hulk should not go to HRT as it will do his career more harm than good too.
At least he's so young that he can afford a year in the wilderness... but somebody has to snap him up!
Sad but I understand why Williams did what they had to do.
Nico will get and deserves a drive in F1!
He showed he is a very good talent all season!
With RBS, Philips and AT&T all pulling their sponsorship of the team I can understand it too. Just a shame.
I'm not really surprised. While in the second half of the season Nico did earn his stripes, he was still outpaced by his team mate more often than not.
Yes he does deserve to be in F1, moreso than a few other drivers we saw this year, but for whatever reason Hulkenberg did not shine as brightly as he was expected to season-long.
I doubt the pole position really helped matters either as it gave him a bargaining chip with which to demand more money. It could be exactly that which ensured he'd be packing his bags.
I'm still not convinced HRT are going to be around next year and to sign for a team that dies is quite possibly the end of an F1 career, so it's understandable that he didn't want that deal.
He'll probably have to settle for a third driver role for 2011 and try again in 2012.
I'm not too sure about AT&T pulling out as they're title sponsor, but the rest for definate.
The Hulk did alright this year, I fail to see how he did worse than other No.2 drivers in the midfield, such as Luizzi and Petrov. In terms of qualifying, he wasn't even that much off the pace compared to Sutil even.
If Williams do go down the Maldano route, they gain a driver who was poor in comparison to the outgoing one, even when they were both in GP2. I hope the money situation doesn't turn Williams into the new Tyrrell.
Hispania will be fine, Dave. Colin Kolles may be mildly insane but he does have a knack for keeping struggling teams afloat.
I don't think Nico would have gone asking for more money following his pole as that would have been pretty boneheaded of him (and he seems pretty smart). I think the reason he's gone is that he can't bring any sponsorship. That's why it'll be Maldonado or possibly Sutil in the car next year.
You may well be right about AT&T.
And yeah, it'll be a shame to see Petrov hang on to his drive despite doing a much worse job than Hulkenberg.