Another door closes on Nico Hulkenberg

Michelle Foster
Another door closes on Nico Hulkenberg

Another door closes on Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg won’t be heading to the IndyCar series with Ed Carpenter Racing as the American revealed his team’s second driver is “not Nico Hulkenberg“.

Left without a race seat after Renault opted not to extend his contract, Hulkenberg has been linked to a move to either to Formula E or IndyCars.

Neither, though, has come to fruition.

Porsche signed Neel Jani and Andre Lotterer as their 2019/20 Formula E drivers while Carpenter has shut the IndyCar door.

“I will be continuing as oval driver in the #20 Chevy next season,” the American racer told Autosport.

“It’s amazing: every year someone starts a rumour or predicts that I’m retiring, but that’s absolutely not the case.

“Maybe we’ll have the other #20 driver confirmed just before Thanksgiving, but most likely it will be the week after.

“But no, it’s not Nico Hulkenberg.

“Those rumours had gotten a little out of control, to be honest – even though neither of us said anything!

“To be honest, I did speak with Nico a couple of times, and I think he was intrigued by the prospect of coming to IndyCar, but I just don’t think the timing was right for him.

“I don’t think he would come over if he was just filling time, waiting to maybe get back into Formula 1 in 2021.

“I think he would evaluate it more and decide whether he really wanted to make a change and then commit to IndyCar for longer – and I don’t think he’s there yet.”

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