Dhe German racing driver Nico Hülkenberg makes a surprising lightning comeback in Formula 1. After the positive coronavirus case of the Mexican Sergio Perez, the 32-year-old from Emmerich took over the free cockpit at Team Racing Point for a short time. The racing team announced this on Friday. Hülkenberg, who has the experience of 177 races in the premier motorsport class, will get into the car at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone on Friday afternoon and contest the first practice session. The race will take place on Sunday (3.10 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1, at RTL and Sky).
Hülkenberg drove for four years for Racing Point’s predecessor, Force India, until 2016 with a break and is currently without a contract. Most recently, the German was active for Renault from 2017 to 2019 and had not received a new contract for 2020 in the previous year. This year he also works as a TV expert for the RTL television station. There have been rumors since Thursday evening that he could step in for his former employer for Perez. First, however, a negative coronavirus test was necessary, only a few minutes before the training session he was allowed to enter the site shortly before 12 noon.
The 30-year-old Perez could not prove it on Thursday and caused the first prominent Corona case in Formula 1. The sixth World Cup may not start in Silverstone and is currently in quarantine. Even a start at the second Grand Prix in England in the same place in a week does not seem possible.
After an initially ambiguous result, only his second test was positive. Perez also had contact with a few Racing Point team members who were also isolated as a precaution. Nothing stands in the way of the race being held since Perez had not yet been on the track. Access to the site would only have been possible with a negative test result. Formula 1 personnel are tested regularly, at least every five days.
At first, Mercedes substitute drivers Stoffel Vandoorne from Belgium and Esteban Gutierrez from Mexico were the hottest candidates for the free space behind the wheel. But the decision was made for the German veteran, who had contested his last Formula 1 race at the season finale in November 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
Hülkenberg made his debut in 2010 in Bahrain for Williams and once took pole position. He holds the inglorious record for most race starts without a podium finish and scored 511 championship points in his career. His greatest success is the triumph in the legendary 24-hour race at Le Mans 2015 with Porsche. The next use in a racing car should actually only take place in mid-August at the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring. There, Hülkenberg wants to drive a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo as a guest starter.
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