Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg is reportedly signing for the midfield team’s rival Sauber according to German magazine ‘Auto Motor und Sport’ to replace Sergio Perez who is headed to McLaren to replace Lewis Hamilton who is headed to Mercedes to replace the retiring Michael Schumacher (phew).

The 25-year-old German made his Formula 1 debut with Williams in 2010 after racking up an impressive CV in junior formulae that included a Formula 3 Euroseries crown in 2008 and a GP2 title in 2009. Hulkenberg currently leads team mate Paul Di Resta by one point following his impressive sixth place finish in the Korean Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg’s agent has neither confirmed or denied the move while speaking to a subsidiary of news agency AFP.

Following the end of BMW’s association with the Swiss-based team, Sauber has emerged from the midfield to score four podium finishes this year. Two of those podiums were strong runs to second place by Perez who looked genuinely set to take victory at the Malaysian and Italian Grands Prix.

Sauber had been outscored by Force India in the constructors championship in both 2010 and 2011 but has surged ahead of the team led by trouble-hit Vijay Mallya this year, which has not scored a pdoium in F1 since Giancarlo Fisichella took second place at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.