Surprised Force India F1 team will wait to replace Nico Hulkenberg

Hulkenberg last week signed a multi-year deal with Renault from next season after being released from his contract by Force India on Friday.

Team principal Vijay Mallya chose not to hold Hulkenberg to the one year left on his deal with Force India, and had not expected the move during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend just days earlier.

Asked whether Force India was caught unaware by Hulkenberg's exit, deputy team principal Bob Fernley told Autosport: "Yes, no question.

"We didn't have that on the radar, hence the reason why it had to be responded to by Vijay.

"We dealt with that in a very professional and speedy manner because in all fairness, last weekend, there was nothing on the table.

"Right now we want to dust ourselves down because the Renault approach to Nico came as a bit of a surprise to say the least."

Fernley praised Hulkenberg for being "a loyal and consistent supporter of Force India", but felt it would have been incorrect "to keep somebody with you who doesn't want to be with you".

He added: "It was much better to do it in an equitable and proper manner, which is what Force India has done, and Vijay has done."

Fernley confirmed there will be no rush to fill the vacancy, with a number of drivers already in the frame.

They include current Renault pair Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer, along with Manor duo Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon, Sauber's Felipe Nasr and Esteban Gutierrez at Haas.

Assessing Force India's situation, Fernley said: "The answer is to step back. We have done what we needed to do to clear the situation up with Vijay. That's closed.

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"We've now a very important couple of weeks coming up, leading up to the Mexican Grand Prix, where we are hugely committed, not only to our commercial partners, but also to Checo [Sergio Perez].

"For me nothing will detract from that now for the next couple of weeks, and when we've finished in Mexico and we are back in the UK, we can then sit down with Vijay and start looking at it.

"So there's no need for us to make a quick decision, and nor would we at this point. At the end of the day it's Vijay's decision, so the process will start once we get back from Mexico.

"The second-seat process can wait. We've done what we needed to do, which is settle things down, confine the stories to the history books, if you like, and now we can focus on what we need to do for Austin and Mexico."