Nico Hulkenberg believes he was within an inch of driving for Ferrari for the 2014 Formula 1 season.
The German driver, who currently races for Renault, was being considered as a replacement for Felipe Massa and reckons he was close to signing a deal before the Italian marque changed direction and re-hired Kimi Raikkonen.
Speaking on the official F1 podcast 'Beyond the Grid', Hulkenberg revealed that talks with Ferrari were advanced, although he didn't know exactly how close they came to signing him over Raikkonen.
"You never know [the details] with these things and the people that make the decisions, they don’t tell you," said Hulkenberg.
"It was like an inch, I really don’t know how [close].
"There were definitely some talks and I think there was a realistic opportunity for quite a decent period of time but then unfortunately in the end it did fall through."
Hulkenberg refused to be drawn on the specifics of the deal, but when asked if Fernando Alonso – who was driving for Ferrari at the time – played a role in him missing out, he replied: "I'd like to know that too.
"With Fernando you can never be totally sure what he says and what he actually means.
"I think he likes the games sometimes so I’m not really sure if he was supporting it or not to be honest and now anyway it’s in the past."
Hulkenberg instead left Sauber after just a single season to re-join Force India for the 2014 season.
