OCTOBER 7, 2016

Wehrlein eyes Hulkenberg's Force India seat

Pascal Wehrlein has moved into pole position to race up the grid next year, should Nico Hulkenberg leave Force India.

Pascal Wehrlein has moved into pole position to race up the grid next year, should Nico Hulkenberg leave Force India.

According to rumours, German Hulkenberg is now a hot candidate to join the works Renault team for 2017, as Carlos Sainz's chances seem to fade.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said on Friday that he thinks Renault has in fact "given up" trying to get Sainz out of his current Toro Rosso seat.

So if Hulkenberg goes - amid speculation he is also linked with Haas - there will be a seat free at Force India, whose engine supplier is Mercedes.

Mercedes' top young talent is German Wehrlein, whose current Manor drive is funded by the German giant.

The 21-year-old admitted at Sepang that there are options for his 2017 whereabouts.

"Mercedes will do the talks for me," Wehrlein is quoted by DPA news agency.

"If there are several options, we will decide together."

He denied, however, that what Hulkenberg now does is the key to his next move.

"The contracts of other drivers interests me much less than my own," said Wehrlein.

(GMM)