Nico Hulkenberg has clarified that he only has "a small job" with Mercedes in 2021.
The 33-year-old admits to feeling some pain about missing out on the plum Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen this year.
"I prefer not to watch Red Bull this year or I'll cry," he joked to Ziggo Sport.
Hulkenberg continued: "I don't think about it. There were talks with the team in the second half of last year, but by the last races - the phase in which Perez was doing really well and won in Bahrain - it was over."
Now, he has been signed up by Aston Martin as a reserve driver - amid reports he also has the same role within the works Mercedes team.
"I work more for Aston Martin," Hulkenberg insists. "It's just a small job at Mercedes affecting only a few races.
"They have Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries, who also compete in Formula E and WEC so they are unavailable a few times," he explained.
Hulkenberg says he remains fully focused on Formula 1 this year, but is not ruling out looking elsewhere in the future.
"I miss racing," he admitted. "If Formula 1 doesn't work out, I'll have to see if something could happen somewhere else."
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