Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Two-year deal due to Force India potential - Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg says he agreed to sign a new two-year deal with Force India due to the team’s potential.

Ferrari has been tipped as a destination for Hulkenberg for a number of seasons, but opted to retain Kimi Raikkonen for an extra year, increasing interest from Haas for Hulkenberg’s services. With Raikkonen out of contract at the end of next season, Hulkenberg’s decision to sign a two-year contract is a slight surprise, but he says he was convinced by Force India’s ability to keep improving.

“The perspective is that I see the team still has potential and we can still make ourselves stronger than we are now,” Hulkenberg said. “I’ve been with this team now for four years and I’ve seen it from when I started in 2011, it’s developed a hell of a lot and we’ve really established ourselves as one of the front midfield running teams.

“I think on what we’ve built so far we can even get better, grow more and be competitive, therefore the sporting future I saw very good and encouraging signs here.”

Asked why he signed for two years and not just one, Hulkenberg replied: “It just gives some stability and you can plan your long-term future better. I think it just worked out good for both sides.”

However, Hulkenberg admitted he did assess other options before committing to an extended stay with Force India.

“Well you do obviously, you do check the market and see what’s available, but then obviously there comes a time where you need to decide.”

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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.