Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Hulkenberg stays with Force India until 2017

Nico Hulkenberg has signed a new contract with Force India which will keep him at the team until the end of the 2017 season.

The German's future was in doubt as Ferrari considered replacing Kimi Raikkonen, but Raikkonen eventually was retained for next season. While Hulkenberg was linked with a move to the new Haas team in 2016, he has now committed to Force India for the next two years.

Now in his second stint with the team, Hulkenberg says the past two seasons have convinced him Force India will continue to move forward.

“I’m very pleased to finalise and announce my plans for the future," Hulkenberg said. "I know this team inside out and I feel at home here so it made perfect sense to make a long-term commitment. The progress the team has shown over the last two years has really impressed me and gives me confidence for the future.

"It’s a great group of people who are hungry for success and want to keep improving year-on-year. I think we have the important things in place going forward and I want to continue growing with this team as we move even further up the grid.”

Hulkenberg has a best finish of sixth place with Force India this season, but currently sits 12th in the drivers' championship after retiring in Hungary and failing to start the Belgian Grand Prix.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.