Nico Hulkenberg’s manager has revealed that Ferrari broke the bad news to the German driver via sms this week and has expressed his disappointment.

Hulkenberg was apparently being seriously considered by Ferrari as the replacement for Felipe Massa.

But when Ferrari signed Raikkonen, the Maranello based team let Hulkenberg know via an sms, according to the German driver’s manager, Werner Heinz.

Heinz told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, “After two months of negotiations, I expected at least a phone call.”

Heinz said that five lawyers worked for eight weeks on the Ferrari contract and ultimately, all that was still needed to finalise the deal, was Luca di Montezemolo’s signature.

“The contracts went back and forth and in the end only had to be signed,” he told the German newspaper Bild.

“Domenicali sent us a SMS at 22.50 on Tuesday,” he added.