Nico Hulkenberg insists he is happy in formula one without his famous manager Willi Weber.

After a year on the reserve bench, the German returned to the grid in 2012 with Force India, but no longer represented by Weber, the famous former manager of the Schumacher brothers.

“There were a few reasons why I separated with Willi Weber,” Hulkenberg told spox.com.

“Now I’m doing it without some new management,” he explained. “I have assistants, because of course I can’t do everything by myself.

“It’s going quite well at the moment.”

Hulkenberg, 24, is not the only F1 driver without a manager, as Kimi Raikkonen now handles his own career.

“I have (also) taken Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg as role models,” admitted Hulkenberg.

Michael Schumacher has pointed the finger at his first formula one boss Eddie Jordan as he recalled his grand prix debut 20 years ago.
At Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, the seven time world champion is marking the passing of two decades since he burst onto the scene with Jordan.

It was a one-off event as Schumacher, then 22, was snapped up after Belgium by Benetton after qualifying in seventh place.

But his actual race lasted less than a lap when he retired with a broken clutch.

“The story is that we had problems in the warmup,” Schumacher, now racing with Mercedes, wrote in a celebratory column for Auto Motor und Sport.

“I pointed it out at the de-briefing and we talked about whether we should change the clutch or not, but Eddie said that would cost too much money. Then it broke,” added the German.

Schumacher also recalled how he and his then manager Willi Weber had stayed in a hostel that weekend.

“I remember I was surprised because I had thought ‘Yes, I am now in formula one, the premier class’. I was not particularly bothered with the hostel except that it was cold and the heater didn’t work,” he said.

Weber had negotiated his charge’s F1 debut after Jordan regular Bertrand Gachot was jailed for attacking a London taxi driver.

Weber told Jordan that Schumacher knew Spa well.

“I have to clarify the story that we lied about it,” Schumacher said. “Eddie had asked Willi if I had raced there before and Willi said yes, because he could not imagine that I had never been there.”

Jordan reportedly wanted to draft in the experienced Stefan Johansson, but Schumacher’s Sauber-Mercedes sports car team – headed by Peter Sauber – offered $150,000 in sponsorship.

“That was a pretty penny for a single grand prix,” Sauber told the SID news agency this week.

The Swiss believes that Mercedes’ other hotshoe, Heinz Harald Frentzen, “had a similar amount of talent and perhaps even a little more”.

But Schumacher was “a hard worker, very ambitious, mentally strong and also so well prepared physically. It soon became apparent that he was a very special talent”, added Sauber.

“You also need talent and technical knowledge and if you get all these factors close to 100 per cent, you get Michael Schumacher who wins seven titles.”

Sauber said Schumacher or Weber never repaid the $150,000.

“He didn’t have to,” Sauber explained. “He was under contract to us and it was quite normal that we allowed him to have his first race.

“Ultimately it didn’t work for us because Mercedes didn’t come in as a works team and so we could not keep him.”

Schumacher retired from F1 at the end of 2006 but returned three years later with Mercedes, where he is under contract for next year and even considering prolonging his comeback.

Eddie Jordan told The Sun this week: “Michael really is an old fart. He’s had his time.

“I don’t think his legacy has been affected yet by what has happened in his comeback. But he has to make sure he gets the timing of his exit from F1 right.”

Nico Hulkenberg has split with his famous manager Willi Weber.
With the 69-year-old German, Hulkenberg made his promising grand prix debut at Williams last season but lost the seat for 2011 to the well-backed Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.

He is now Force India’s Friday test driver and hopes to be promoted to the race seat for 2012.

A statement on Hulkenberg’s website said he will “from now on take management matters in his own hands”, supported by his former PR advisor Timo Gans.

“Both sides are currently working on a smooth changeover and on a satisfying solution for everyone,” the statement added.

German Weber also brought the Schumachers into formula one but he no longer works with the brothers.

Nick Heidfeld has been selected to drive in injured Robert Kubica’s place this season, according to a German report.

Lotus-sponsored Renault has already announced that German Heidfeld, 33, will be testing at Jerez this weekend, but only as “a potential replacement” for car number 9.

But the German newspaper Bild-Zeitung claims grand prix veteran Heidfeld will also be racing in March and beyond.

The newspaper said he has had a seat fitting for the R31 at Enstone.

A Renault source told Bild: “(Vitaly) Petrov is relatively inexperienced. In order to exhaust the full potential of the car, we definitely need a strong and experienced man.

“And the team has already been talking with Heidfeld in the past years,” added the source.

Indeed, Heidfeld was a contender for the race seat alongside Kubica this year, as Renault earlier considered ousting Petrov.

But for the moment, Renault is not confirming the news.

A spokesman told DPA news agency that it would be “inappropriate” to take a decision “while Kubica is still in intensive care”.

And it is still rumoured that Tonio Liuzzi could be called up for an evaluation for the Barcelona test.

“We must wait for the Jerez tests now, and thankfully the Barcelona ones too,” confirmed team owner Gerard Lopez.

Referring to Heidfeld specifically, he added: “We all know that Nick is rather good, but we don’t know what level he is in now, we don’t know how he does with our car.

“Same goes for Vitantonio Liuzzi, same goes – I don’t know – for Bruno Senna, who last year was in a team with a car that could do nothing,” said Lopez.

Nico Hulkenberg’s manager Willi Weber, however, is convinced: “Nick Heidfeld is going to race,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

The plethora of German drivers is making it harder for Nico Hulkenberg to break through in formula one.

That is the claim of famous driver manager Willi Weber, who after watching his rookie charge Hulkenberg secure pole in Brazil last year was left scrambling to find the 23-year-old a new job.

Struggling Williams replaced Hulkenberg with the well-financed Pastor Maldonado, with Hulkenberg forced to sit out 2011 as Force India’s reserve and Friday driver.

There were seven Germans in F1 last year, but only five for the 2011 season as Hulkenberg and Nick Heidfeld lose their race seats.

“Nico has all the right qualities but he had to share the stage with many other Germans,” Weber told the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell.

“It’s like a cake; if you have to share it with seven others, the piece you have is small,” he explained.

Both Hulkenberg and Heidfeld are considered serious contenders to replace the injured Robert Kubica at Renault this year.

The uncertainty surrounding Force India’s driver lineup for 2011 looks set to end soon.
It is believed that despite Vitantonio Liuzzi having a firm contract for this year, it will be Paul di Resta racing alongside Adrian Sutil in the two VJM-04s.

Williams refugee Nico Hulkenberg looks to have secured a third driver role involving Friday morning practice sessions, but his manager Willi Weber insisted this week that before “anything is said officially, I can’t say anything myself”.

The Silverstone based team’s boss and owner Vijay Mallya has now hinted that the uncertainty is soon to end, with the delay believed to be due to the severing of Liuzzi’s contract.

“There are some legal loose ends to be tied up,” the Indian billionaire told the BBC.

Mallya added that the lineup should be named “in the next few days”.

It may be two more weeks before an announcement about Nico Hulkenberg’s role for the 2011 season is made, his manager Willi Weber has clarified.
On Monday, the newspaper Blick reported that the German 23-year-old will be the Friday driver at Force India in 2011, working alongside racers Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil.

However, that report has now been deleted from the Swiss publication’s website.

In the report, Weber was quoted as saying that Hulkenberg had also been a contender for the third seat at McLaren but “Martin Whitmarsh was worried that it would be seen as a threat to Button”.

Weber has now told the German news agency SID that Hulkenberg’s future will actually only be decided in mid-January.

“I am negotiating with several teams,” he insisted.

Another member of Hulkenberg’s management team, Timo Gans, did not deny that Blick’s story of Monday was false.

According to motorsport-magazin.com, he insisted that “the official statement is made usually by the team”.

“So we don’t want to make any official statements before the team does,” added Gans.

Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann was also cautious when asked about the Blick story.

“I don’t know where it comes from — probably from Willi Weber because it says Nico Hulkenberg will be test driver,” he said.

“I can only speak for us. We are basically in agreement with Force India, the contract is being drafted but it is not signed.”

Zimmermann added that confirmation could take between 10 and 14 days.

Silverstone based Force India did not comment.

News about Nico Hulkenberg’s future in formula one might be imminent, according to his management.

After losing his Williams race seat for 2011, the German rookie’s manager Willi Weber revealed talks with the Silverstone based team Force India.

“It is quite possible that something will happen this week,” Timo Gans, who works with the 23-year-old’s management, told the German news agency DPA.

It is believed a reserve role with a top team such as Mercedes, rather than a move to another series, is Hulkenberg’s ‘plan B’.

Timo Gans said recently: “Our objective is that Nico gets a place in formula one — as a race driver.

“That’s our plan A and we’re putting everything into it.”

Jarno Trulli’s place on the 2011 grid is secure, but the same is reportedly not true for Italian countryman Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Reporting on Italy’s dwindling presence in formula one, Autosprint magazine recalled 1989, when no fewer than 12 Italians lined up on the grid.

Now, there are just two, and the veteran Trulli is expected to re-sign with Lotus Racing for 2011.

But F1′s other Italian driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi – while possessing a contract for 2011 – must reportedly tremble as Force India considers its next lineup.

His 2010 teammate Adrian Sutil says he has agreed to stay next year, while two drivers – Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg – are strongly linked with the other seat.

Hulkenberg’s manager Willi Weber has revealed talks with the Vijay Mallya-headed team, and reserve driver di Resta upped his credentials at the weekend by wrapping up his first title in the German touring car series DTM.

“I’m certainly hoping I can get a seat there next year because I’d love to continue a long relationship with them,” di Resta is quoted as saying on Monday.

“My dream is to become formula one world champion, and that’s the next box in my book I’ve got to tick off. I’ll keep praying it happens,” he added.

Di Resta’s Scottish countryman and former Toyota racer Allan McNish also hopes the 24-year-old makes his F1 debut next March.

“If you look at the mistakes Sutil and Liuzzi have made in the past few races, you would have to say Paul has a good case to be out there,” he said recently.

“Unfortunately, there is a lot of politics in motor sport and F1 is at the very height of that so it is not just about a driver’s performance,” added McNish.

Pastor Maldonado has hinted that “important news” about his future could be forthcoming this week.

Last week, after testing with both the Williams and HRT teams, the new GP2 champion refused to confirm speculation he has already signed to make his F1 race debut in 2011.

Oxfordshire based Williams has cleared a race seat alongside Rubens Barrichello by ousting Nico Hulkenberg, whose manager Willi Weber said last Monday that the team has “probably already done a deal with Pastor Maldonado”.

25-year-old Maldonado wrote on Twitter: “This week could be very important and I hope to have news about the future.”

Maldonado, who is backed by the Venezuelan government and state-owned petroleum company PDVSA, told F1′s official website last week: “If you win the GP2 championship you definitely hope that formula one is the next logical step.”

Pastor Maldonado has refused to confirm speculation he has already signed to make his F1 debut with the Williams team in 2011.

In Abu Dhabi this week, the new GP2 champion has been testing both with Williams as well as HRT, the Spanish team that will use a gearbox supplied by Oxfordshire based Williams next year.

Williams has cleared a 2011 race seat alongside Rubens Barrichello by ousting Nico Hulkenberg, whose manager Willi Weber said on Monday that the team has “probably already done a deal with Pastor Maldonado”.

It is assumed that Williams has signed Maldonado because it needs his financial backing provided by the Venezuelan government and the petroleum company PDVSA.

But Maldonado is quoted by F1′s official website: “At the moment, no comment on that.”

Nico Hulkenberg’s manager has hit out at Williams for taking so long to oust the 23-year-old ahead of the 2011 season.

Auto Motor und Sport in Germany is reporting that the British team’s chairman Adam Parr only told the German and his manager Willi Weber that he will not be racing next year in the darkness after last Sunday’s Abu Dhabi season finale.

Apparently so late was the decision communicated that Hulkenberg was planning a longer stay in the Middle East ahead of the first Pirelli test late this week.

Williams confirmed only on Wednesday that Rubens Barrichello will now be doing the tyre testing alone.

“I have not been handled like this for the last 20 years,” said Weber, referring to his two-decade involvement in F1 since Michael Schumacher entered the sport at the beginning of the 90s.

“I wouldn’t have minded if they came clean and said ‘We need money so we can no longer afford Nico’.  But instead we are at the last second where we have hardly any time to look elsewhere,” he added.

It is believed that Renault is no longer an option for Hulkenberg, given the Russian government’s reported decision to pour more backing into Vitaly Petrov’s coffers for 2011.

German reports mention Force India and Lotus as possibilities, but Ferrari and Weber have officially denied the reported link between Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa’s confirmed cockpit.

According to a rumour in the Italian media, Nico Hulkenberg is a candidate to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari in 2011.

La Stampa newspaper said the rumour came from “a voice” within the famous Maranello based team, where Brazilian Massa – who already has an ongoing contract with Ferrari – struggled alongside Fernando Alonso this season.

German Hulkenberg, 23, has not been retained by Williams for 2011, and his manager Willi Weber has strong links within Ferrari due to his former charge Michael Schumacher’s decade-long tenure there.

But another voice at Ferrari insisted: “Felipe is untouchable.”

La Stampa acknowledged that the rumour might have been generated by Weber to keep Hulkenberg’s name circulating while he is on the market.

Italy’s Autosprint reported the same rumour linking Hulkenberg with Ferrari.

A Dutch GP2 driver has emerged as a contender to race at Williams next year alongside Rubens Barrichello.

On Monday, the British team announced that Nico Hulkenberg is leaving Williams, and the disappointed German’s manager Willi Weber said he suspects Pastor Maldonado has been signed for 2011.

But another driver with links to some very attractive sponsorship backing has now entered the frame.

Late last month, 25-year-old Giedo van der Garde’s manager said he was in talks with several teams and had received “concrete offers” from two.

Dutch reports said one of them is Virgin.

Fascinatingly, van der Garde’s manager Jan Paul ten Hoopen is also the commercial director of the Dutch fashion brand McGregor, and the driver’s father-in-law is Marcel Boekhoorn, a major shareholder.

It was believed that McGregor would cease its sponsorship of the Williams team at the end of 2010, but it is now being reported in The Netherlands that the deal has instead been extended by three years.

Jan Paul ten Hoopen is quoted as saying: “This extension underscores our belief in the future of formula one and Williams in particular.”

Force India has emerged as Nico Hulkenberg’s best chance to stay in formula one next year.

The promising German rookie has been ruled out of an extended stay at Williams next year, as the British team apparently clears a seat for a paying driver.

“I heavily regret that, because I would have been happy to stay,” the 23-year-old said.

Hulkenberg’s manager Willi Weber revealed: “I am negotiating with other teams. Nico will have his seat in F1 in 2011.”

Revealing that more news will come in the next “one or two weeks”, Weber told SID news agency: “He has to stay in formula one. He is the next biggest hope for Germany after Vettel and Rosberg.”

Auto Motor und Sport named Silverstone based Force India as the best option, with Adrian Sutil considering a seat elsewhere and Vitantonio Liuzzi’s future clouded despite his possession of a 2011 contract.

Hulkenberg “requires far less salary than Sutil, but he brings far less sponsor money”, the German report noted.

Another race seat might be open at Renault, but the latest speculation is that the Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov has done enough to justify the place alongside his sponsors.

And Spain’s El Mundo reports that the Kremlin might add to Petrov’s 2011 coffers, now that Russia is embarking on a F1 circuit project.

“Soon we will know what we are going to do,” Petrov is quoted by The Guardian newspaper. “We have been going forwards, forwards, forwards, everything going in the right way.”