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Jason Watt: Nico Hulkenberg to blame for his own Formula 1 exit

Jason Watt: Nico Hulkenberg to blame for his own Formula 1 exit

20-11-2019 08:03
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Bobby Vincent

Nico Hulkenberg will be leaving Renault after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend, and the German driver will not be racing in Formula 1 next season, and this is down to his own performances, according to former F3000 winner Jason Watt.

It was announced earlier in the season that Esteban Ocon would be making a return to F1 after a year out and that the Frenchman would be replacing Hulkenberg at the French manufacturer.

Hulkenberg was then linked with a move to Haas and Alfa Romeo, but both teams decided to stick with what they already have for a further season, leaving the former Force India driver without a seat for 2020.

Watt reminisced on the Force India part of Hulkenberg's career, where the German driver grew a "pretty good reputation" by dominating his team-mates at the British team.

"After that, the curve stagnated severely," Watt said to Ekstra Bladet. "For the past five seasons, including 2019, he has finished ahead of his team-mate in the championship only once.

"He looked good in 2018 with Carlos Sainz, though, so I was excited to see him against Daniel Ricciardo this year."

Watt would've liked to have seen fellow Dane Kevin Magnussen with Hulkenberg beside him at Haas next season: "It doesn't do much for Kevin when Romain Grosjean has those periods of stupid mistakes. So for Kevin's sake, I would have liked to see Hulkenberg there in 2020.

"Now it seems that he will end his days in DTM or Formula E, and in my book, he has himself to blame for that."