'Silly Season' is well and truly underway in the Formula 1 Paddock, so far only Mercedes, Ferrari, Racing Point and Renault have secured their driver pairing for 2020. All of which have stuck with their current driver pairings. Apart from Renault who have retained Daniel Ricciardo, whilst they have switched out Nico Hulkenberg for Estbean Ocon, so where does this leave the German for 2020?
Haas and Alfa Romeo are the only real viable options for the German, with Romain Grosjean and Antonio Giovinazzi yet to be confirmed for the 2020 season.
But how would the driver pairing work at Haas, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg have had run ins before, their most notorious occurring at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix when Kevin replied to Nico with, "suck my b**s mate". Since then, in a podcast for Formula 1, the Dane said he had no issue with Nico, "I've got no issue with Nico, nothing against the guy..." Even so, could there still be an underlying issue between the pair that could deem their potential partnership toxic? After all, Gunther Steiner, Haas team principle, is aiming for a driver pairing that would be beneficial to the team rather than the current detrimental one. Either way, the next Haas driver pairing has to build the team up and score the rightful points, something Nico Hulkenberg is most certainly capable of.
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However, Hulkenberg isn't the only one looking at the Haas seat... Another potential teammate for Kevin Magnussen is Pascal Wherlein who was seen talking to Gunther Steiner in the Paddock in Belgium. Steiner commented on this saying there was no possibility for Pascal as he has been out of Formula 1 for two years too long... Haas are still a young team, therefore, their driver criteria requires extensive knowledge and skill in Formula 1, unfortunately for Pascal, spending two years in Formula E has meant he isn't in contention for the 2020 Haas seat.
The only other option for Nico Hulkenberg is Alfa Romeo, Antonio Giovinazzi has a contract that is due to run out at the end of this season, therefore, there will be a vacant seat at Alfa Romeo. Could Nico and Kimi Raikkonen prove a viable option for the up and coming team? So far this season, Alfa have proved themselves to be a top mid-fielding team, however, one driver seems to be holding up the team single handedly... Kimi Raikkonen has secured a total of 31 points this season, whilst Antonio Giovinazzi has only secured 3 points. Although it is the Italian's debut season, after spinning out in Belgium on the final lap a rookie error may have pushed the team too far... Could this leave the door open for Nico Hulkenberg for the 2020 season? A driver pairing of Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg would prove mighty and could even be the final element to propel this team to success.
It's fair to say this is not Nico Hulkenberg's final season in Formula 1, the thirty-one year old still has a lot of racing left in him. But could this driver move prove to be a huge mistake for Renault, as Nico Hulkenberg has secured 143 of Renault's 292 total points since their return in 2016, just 6 points shy of half...
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