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Formula 1: Did Nico Hulkenberg just confirm his Renault departure?

By Asher Fair

HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY - JULY 26: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Renault Sport F1 walks in the Paddock after practice for the F1 Grand Prix of Germany at Hockenheimring on July 26, 2019 in Hockenheim, Germany. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY - JULY 26: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Renault Sport F1 walks in the Paddock after practice for the F1 Grand Prix of Germany at Hockenheimring on July 26, 2019 in Hockenheim, Germany. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
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Esteban Ocon has been rumored to replace Nico Hulkenberg at Renault for the 2020 Formula 1 season. Did Hulkenberg just confirm this news?

One of the hottest topics of this year’s Formula 1 summer break has, as usual, been a Silly Season rumor. This year’s big discussion has pertained to five-time reigning champions Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.

Valtteri Bottas’s contract with the Silver Arrows, which he signed in July of 2018, expires at the end of this season, and the team did not pick up the additional one-year option that it contained.

However, the Brackley-based team could offer him a completely new contract, perhaps even a multi-year deal, that would begin next season in what would be his fourth consecutive season driving for the team.

However, Mercedes reserve and test driver and former Force India driver Esteban Ocon, who many people, including Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff, believe should have landed a ride for the 2019 season, is waiting in the wings.

Who will the team ultimately pair with five-time champion Lewis Hamilton, whose contract, which he also signed in July of 2018, does not expire until the end of the 2020 season?

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Recent rumors suggest that Bottas has been tipped to return to Mercedes for next year. Along with those rumors are rumors that suggest Ocon has been tipped to drive for Renault as the replacement for Nico Hulkenberg.

While Hulkenberg has previously stated that he is “likely” to return to the French marque next season despite the fact that his contract expires after this season ends, Wolff also previously urged Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul to “restore his gentleman image” by signing Ocon, a former Renault reserve and test driver.

The two sides had an agreement to send Ocon to Renault on loan for the 2019 season, but Abiteboul backed out of this agreement once Daniel Ricciardo made the shocking decision to depart from Aston Martin Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2018 season. Ricciardo signed a two-year contract with Renault.

According to Hulkenberg, this move to send the 22-year-old Frenchman to Renault may be a done deal.

He posted a (now deleted after 24 hours) picture on his Instagram story of Ocon in a race suit that appeared on the front cover of the most recent issue of French publication Auto Hebdo.

It is believed that Hulkenberg’s contract contains a clause that does not allow him to be replaced for the 2020 season unless he can find another landing spot, so perhaps the “more exciting Thursday” that he is referring to could have something to do with an announcement on his future since, after all, the Ocon to Renault deal does appear to be all but set in stone.

Haas has been rumored as a potential destination for the 32-year-old German given the recent struggles of Romain Grosjean. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

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What news will this Thursday, August 29 bring in the Formula 1 world as it pertains to the futures of Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Renault? Is Hulkenberg’s photo really a confirmation of his departure from his current team?

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