Ted Kravitz and Nico Hulkenberg had an awkward interview in which the German racer declared: "I always thought you don't like me."
Hulkenberg will return to the Formula 1 grid next year his Haas. The American team announced this week that they had chosen the more experienced racer to replace Mick Schumacher, amid the younger German's struggles to consistently score points two years into his own F1 career.
His chat with Sky Sports reporter Kravitz took place shortly after qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday. He was in the paddock speaking and posing for selfies with fans when he was approached by the TV cameras during his live notebook show.
While Kravitz went into the conversation with his usual light-hearted demeanour, the chat soon took a more serious turn. "I always thought you don't like me," said Hulkenberg at the start of the conversation.
This clearly caught Kravitz by surprise as, right on cue, he slipped into responding in German before denying that he has any ill feeling for the former Renault racer. Nein! Nicht doch. Not true," he declared. "Of course not. Are you kidding? You're one of my favourites."
Kravitz then recalled an anecdote from Hulkenberg's last F1 race at the end of the 2019 season. He continued: "Don't you remember? We had that touching moment where you made a rude gesture to me on the balcony when you left last time around."
The driver then said: "I don't recall that," to which the reporter replied: "Well, you probably had a Liebfraumilch or something. Looking forward to [returning]. You're not going to be trawling around at the back with Haas?
Hulkenberg answered that question: "We'll see, I hope not. I hope we can kick some ass and have a little fun." During the same show, Kravitz had a brief conversation with Sebastian Vettel during which they discussed a gift the retiring racer had been given after an interview with Sky Germany.
They had adopted a llama in his name, and also gifted him with a llama-themed jigsaw puzzle. In his usual style, Kravitz dwelled on that subject for some time before going for an advert break, after which he was concerned he had got the llama mixed up with an alpaca.
While still on air, he then clarified with Haas communications manager Stuart Morrison, who happened to be walking past at the time, that the two animals are very similar.
