Nico Hulkenberg said his future was uncertain after Monday’s all-day private 136-lap IndyCar test at Barber Motorsports Park.
Hulkenberg, 34, served as reserve and development driver for the Aston Martin F1 team this year. His last race starts came in 2020 in two separate single-race underrun roles for Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll from Racing Point, where Hülkenberg finished 7th and 8th respectively.
Right now, Arrow McLaren SP is heading for a third full-season entry in 2023, and the team has announced it will run a part-season program in preparation, possibly with multiple drivers. Although the test was conducted on Monday at Hulkenberg’s request to see if IndyCar could be a viable option for the next chapter of his racing career, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown previously said that the German driver is very much in for the future of his IndyCar team Is considered.
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“Overall, I think (Monday) was a good and successful day,” said Hulkenberg in a statement from AMSP. “I can definitely confirm that these steering monsters are very body-hugging cars, and it took a while in the morning to get comfortable, but the lap times and performance came in the afternoon and it was great fun.
“Big thanks to Arrow McLaren SP for this opportunity today and their very professional work on the track.”
Hulkenberg started with testing times that could be better than his former F1 competitor Romain Grosjean, although he probably had more favorable weather. Both used Barber as their first proving ground, with Grosjean running 12 cars as part of a private test in February after announcing his 2021 part-season program with Dale Coyne at Rick Ware Racing. On this day at the end of February, Grosjean drove a best lap of 1: 07.478, a little more than two hundredths slower than Hulkenberg.
Email IndyStar motorsport reporter Nathan Brown at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.
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