New contender for Audi F1 seat emerges with driver open to big move

Sam Cooper 08 Sep 2023 2:30 PM

Nico Hulkenberg has admitted his interest in joining the Audi project but has maintained he must prove he is worth it to the German manufacturer.

Audi are under three years away from their long-awaited arrival into F1 but while they continue to work on creating their power unit, the most talked-about question is who will be driving the car come lights out in 2026.

A number of names have been linked and one that makes more sense than most has recently been focusing on the topic.

Nico Hulkenberg admits interest in ‘very exciting’ Audi move

As a German manufacturer, it can be tempting to believe that Audi would want a driver with the same nationality and the options in that regard are currently limited.

Mick Schumacher is a name that has been touted but having been out of the car for almost a full season now, a more natural choice could instead be the very man who replaced Schuamcher at Haas.

The topic of a possible move to Audi was put to Hulk who admitted that it was an idea he would consider.

“It’s definitely one of the very attractive projects right now and prospects for a new brand coming into F1,” he told the Beyond the Grid podcast.

“It’s very exciting, a German manufacturer as well. They are people that I’ve worked with and done really well with before. It all sounds really nice and good on paper.

“Obviously, I need to put in the good work, keep driving convincing drives to maybe have a shot there. But only time will tell.”

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Hulk does have a number of links with the operation already having driven for Sauber in 2013 as well as working with team principal Andreas Seidl during Hulkenberg’s successful 2015 Le Mans run.

As of yet, Audi have not commented on who will drive for them but earlier this year CEO of Audi Formula Racing GmbH Adam Baker suggested nationality is not a top priority.

“With the first race being three years away, it’s too early to talk seriously about drivers,” he exclusively told PlanetF1.com. “But the interest in that topic is obviously there.

“But any decision that does get made for race drivers will be made primarily based on performance. That’s the highest priority.”