Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, 2022

Hulkenberg to race for Aston Martin in Saudi Arabia in place of Vettel again

2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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Nico Hulkenberg will spend a second race as substitute for Sebastian Vettel in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Vettel was unable to participate in last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix after testing positive for Covid-19. Aston Martin said yesterday Vettel had not yet tested negative for the coronavirus.

The team has not indicated whether he has tested negative yet, but confirmed Hulkenberg will replace him for the entire weekend.

“[Nico] Hulkenberg will practice, qualify and race alongside Lance Stroll,” said Aston Martin in a statement.

“Despite lack of mileage in the AMR22, Nico coped well in Bahrain and we are sure he will do likewise in Jeddah.

“We expect Sebastian Vettel to be fit for the Australian GP.”

Hulkenberg started and finished 17th last weekend in his first race since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix.

This article will be updated

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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16 comments on “Hulkenberg to race for Aston Martin in Saudi Arabia in place of Vettel again”

  1. He’s back… again

  2. Unsurprising.

  3. I have a feeling Seb will not be too unhappy to miss Saudi and be an Aramco spokesperson all weekend long

    1. @wsrgo We’ll he’s technically an aramco spokesman for as long as they sponsor the team (and by extension, pay his wages).

  4. Seb successfully boycotting Saudi by tactically contracting covid (joke)

    1. Exactly.

    2. Not deliberately catching it, but extending his covid positive claim such that he can boycott Saudi.

      1. He can’t ever boycott Saudi totally, he does drive for “Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team” after all…

  5. Vettel has seen the pace of his Aston Martin this year and will be taking a red pen to his lateral flow tests for the foreseeable future…

    1. Looks like it. It will be a very low key retirement for the 4 time world champion though.

    2. Haha, yes, a lucky escape for him given the way that car’s going.

  6. I’m one of the many who hopes that Hulkenberg will achieve something special and maybe get his first podium.
    But his understudy activities were always a bit of a disappointment.
    So much so that I’m not that excited anymore when he gets a new outing.

  7. I think going to a country you despise in a dog of a car would have most people reaching for a felt tip pen and a ruler…

  8. Always good to see Hulk in an F1 car. Aston could save quite some money if they would keep him permanently and I do not think the results would be any less.

  9. Feel sorry for Seb but also feel good about Nico.

    1. With such a car I don’t feel so good for him either!

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