LONDON – Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has suggested he could return to Formula One, following talks with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
Mercedes are in search of a new driver after Lewis Hamilton announced in February he was leaving the team for Ferrari following 11 years with the Silver Arrows.
Vettel won his four world championship titles with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013. He retired from Formula One at the end of the 2022 season, after six years at Ferrari and two with Aston Martin.
But he has now hinted at a return to Grand Prix racing, following talks with Wolff and several other team bosses.
“I am speaking to Toto. I don’t know if that qualifies as Mercedes, but about other things,” Vettel told Sky Sports News on April 3.
“I’m talking to a lot of people because I know them, but not very specific. I mean, obviously, it does cross my mind. I do think about it, but it’s not the main thought,” the 36-year-old German added.
“I have three kids at home, it’s busy every day, so there’s a lot of other thoughts I have. There’s ideas that I have.
“Events that I’m planning going forward, so I did speak to a lot of other team principals as well, and not only about racing... but nothing concrete at the minute.”
Vettel said he was taken aback by Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari after winning six world championships with the German giants.
“I was surprised, like I guess most of us were,” he said.
“But it is exciting. Obviously, he’s looking for a new challenge and it will be different to see him in red, in a different colour.”
At the end of March, Wolff said Max Verstappen would be top of Mercedes’ list of possible replacements for Hamilton in 2025, if available. He had tried to sign the Dutchman as a teenager before he joined Red Bull, but the Austrian could not offer him an F1 seat immediately.
The thrice world champion has a Red Bull contract until 2028, but his future has been clouded by a breakdown in relations between his father Jos and team principal Christian Horner.
“We have a slot free, the only one in the top teams – unless Max decides he goes and then the slot is not going to be free with us any more,” Wolff told Fox Sports Australia in an interview during the Australian Grand Prix.
Asked if Verstappen would be the No. 1 pick, Wolff replied: “Yes. You see what his performance levels are, but I wouldn’t want to discount the other ones, too.”
Wolff also mentioned twice world champion Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and Mercedes-backed F2 rookie Kimi Antonelli as possible options.
Vettel, meanwhile, has been test driving the Porsche car scheduled to compete in 2024’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
“Maybe, I don’t know yet,” he replied, when asked if he could make his first appearance in the celebrated endurance race in 2024. AFP
