Nico Hulkenberg has turned down an offer to replace Kimi Raikkonen at the Lotus F1 Team for the final two races of the 2013 season.

Hulkenberg, who currently drives for Sauber, is tipped as the favourite to replace the outgoing Raikkonen when he moves to Ferrari next season. The deal however hinges on  Lotus concluding an investment deal with Quantum – a deal which many insiders suspect will fall through. Should this happen, Pastor Maldonado who will be leaving Williams at the end of the season, is expected to move to Lotus – along with his substantial PDVSA sponsorship.

Earlier this week, Hulkenberg’s manager Werner Heinz, admitted to German newspaper Bild that an offer had been made for him to replace Raikkonen who will miss the final two races of the season after deciding to go for back surgery in preparation for 2014 with Ferrari.

“We had an offer from Lotus and we discussed it,” Heinz told Bild. “We decided that Nico will do the last two races with Sauber.”

Lotus reserve driver Davide Valsecchi, a F1 rookie and last year’s GP2 champion, is now the favourite to replace Raikkonen in Austin and Brazil.