Nico Hulkenberg's visit to Red Bull hospitality sparks rumor of a possible switch

Haas F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg sparked rumors of being in contention for Red Bull's second seat after he was spotted heading into the hospitality suite of the Austrian team in Belgium.

The German driver had a pretty dismal 2023 Belgium GP weekend with two mistakes in the two qualifying sessions, when he and the team misjudged the timings for putting in a hot lap. The misjudgments did not seem to have too much of an effect on his position on the grid, as the 35-year-old is very close to signing a new contract with the American team.

Further rumours were sparked when Hulkenberg was spotted entering the Red Bull area during the Belgium GP weekend. F1 journalist Natalie Pinkham, while appearing on the F1 Nation podcast, said:

“It interests me that Nico Hulkenberg just walked past us to go into Red Bull. What’s going on there?"

As per PlanetF1, Dutch journalist Erik van Haren shut done the chances of Hulkenberg joining the Austrian outfit to become teammates with Max Verstappen, saying:

“I think he has a very good connection with the Verstappen camp, and I think Max is here with his private jet and Nico lives in Monaco, maybe that’s why he is here. Because he has his bag already with him and he has changed his clothes, so I think that’s the reason but we can check that.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko had previously stated that Hulkenberg's qualifying pace and Sergio Perez's race performance would be a 'perfect' combination.

Red Bull advisor names two drivers who can closely challenge Max Verstappen

Despite the rumours of Nico Hulkenberg being in contention at the Austrian team, Helmut Marko does not consider him as one of the two drivers who can challenge Max Verstappen closely at the moment.

While appearing on F1 Nation, the Red Bull advisor said:

“Being second behind Max is like a win. There won’t be any other driver who could stay with him on one level. Maybe [Fernando] Alonso and [Lewis] Hamilton would be nearer, but nobody could beat him at the moment. I know how good Max is [and] that has to be considered.

He added:

"He’s nursing the tires and he’s still going fast. He can read the race and he’s so far ahead [with] what he’s doing he’s already past. It’s unbelievable capacity in his head. It’s so unbelievable, the performance of the whole team, pit stops, strategy, the drivers. And we do some entertainment [with] the conversations between Max and [his engineer over the radio].”

It will be fascinating to see if there will be a change in the second driver seat at Red Bull after the summer break or at the beginning of next year. Interestingly, Perez's contract with the Austrian outfit is until the end of the 2024 season.