Hulkenberg set for Renault switch (2nd Update)

UPDATE Nico Hulkenberg has agreed a deal to drive for the Renault Formula 1 team from 2017 reports Autosport. It is understood Hulkenberg has signed a two-year contract to cover the 2017 and '18 seasons, with an option to extend the deal into a third season in '19.

10/10/16

Nico Hulkenberg

(GMM) Renault has decided to sign a three-year deal with Nico Hulkenberg, another media source is claiming.

It is becoming clearer and clearer that the French works team will oust both Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer for 2017.

Finland's Turun Sanomat is just the latest outlet to say the name of one successor is German Hulkenberg, even though the deal is not actually signed yet.

It is believed Hulkenberg has found a way out of his Force India contract because the Silverstone based team is late to pay him.

"We would not stop Nico if he would like to go somewhere else," deputy boss Bob Fernley is quoted by the newspaper as saying at Suzuka.

Renault is also not denying the Hulkenberg reports.

"He is one of the possibilities, but at the moment we have not decided," team boss Frederic Vasseur told the French broadcaster Canal Plus.

Turun Sanomat said one contender to be Hulkenberg's 2017 teammate is Valtteri Bottas, but young Frenchman Esteban Ocon and others have also been linked.

"If we were to put all of the drivers in the team who have been linked with us, we would call ourselves a football team rather than a formula one team," Vasseur said.

"Hulkenberg is a possibility, as are two or three other drivers," he added.

Nico Hulkenberg has been routinely beat by his Mexican teammate

10/08/16 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg will definitely move to Renault for 2017, Germany's Auto Bild is reporting on Saturday.

The publication said its source is within the French works team, which looks set to split not only from Jolyon Palmer but also Kevin Magnussen.

Magnussen's extended 2017 contract 'option' runs out next week but Auto Bild said Renault wants a Frenchman to be Hulkenberg's teammate.

The obvious favorite is Esteban Ocon, but the report said the youngster's Renault link is only due to a 'handshake' between Mercedes' Toto Wolff and Frederic Vasseur.

But Vasseur could be about to leave the team, due to a power struggle with fellow Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul.

So it is believed Ocon has now joined fellow Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein in the running to replace Hulkenberg at Force India,

And the French drivers in the running to be Hulkenberg's Renault teammate are reportedly Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly, and former Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne.

German-language F1 pundit Marc Surer backed Hulkenberg's impending move.

"Renault will be strong in the coming years, while on the other hand the future of Force India, because of financial question marks, is rather uncertain," he said.

"So I see Hulkenberg as better off with Renault."