Former Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg has killed off his own prospects of racing in the NTT IndyCar Series in the future, for “personal reasons”.
The 34-year-old German driver, who remains Aston Martin F1’s reserve driver but who no longer entertains any hopes of returning full-time to the grid, was offered a test outing by Arrow McLaren SP two weeks ago at Barber Motorsports Park.
Hulkenberg qualified the run in Alabama as “good and successful” while McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown readily put the former Grand Prix driver among the front-runners to fill a third seat in the future at AMSP.
However, despite the positive feedback that followed his Barber test, Hulkenberg ruled out a move to IndyCar in a message on Twitter on Thursday.
“Quick update regarding IndyCar: It was exciting to test an Indycar two weeks ago and I am grateful to Arrow McLaren SP for this opportunity,” Hulkenberg wrote.
“However for personal reasons I decided not to go ahead with it. Keep you posted on my future plans.”
The former Renault driver didn’t elaborate on the “personal reasons” behind his decision.
But as the proud parents of a recently born young son, Hulkenberg and his wife, fashion designer Egle Ruskyte, may feel that committing to IndyCar or relocating to America are not in the family’s best interests.
Hulkenberg’s former F1 colleagues, Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean have both successfully undergone the endeavour.
Ericsson switched to IndyCar in 2019 and has enjoyed two wins in the series, while Grosjean is in the process of moving his family to the US where he will undertake in 2022 his first full IndyCar season, running with top outfit Andretti Autosport.
