Photo: Aston Martin F1 Team / Twitter
It was a relatively quiet and uneventful Thursday afternoon in the world of Formula 1 when all of a sudden Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from the sport in an Instagram post. The four-time F1 world champion sat down in front of the camera and gave a heartfelt speech, touching on multiple subjects from racing to his personal life and people in general.
Afterwards, Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll thanked Vettel for all the work he’s done at the British outfit over the past year and a half, stating that the German driver will continue to race for the team up to and including the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will also mark Vettel’s 300th Grand Prix entry.
It sounds like his team will give him quite a spectacular send-off, and there’s plenty of racing to be done between now and Abu Dhabi, which means Vettel can further add to his points tally in the Driver Standings where he’s currently P14 with 15 points to his name.
A few more strong performances and it’s conceivable that he could leapfrog AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, finishing the season in P11, although we wouldn’t bet on it.
Regardless of how he does this year, the fact remains that come 2023, Aston Martin is going to have an available seat and we should talk about a few guys that could end up taking Vettel’s place - racing alongside Lance Stroll who we expect will remain with the team (a team that his father owns).
Now, the first and most obvious name is that of Nico Hulkenberg, who has already stepped in for Vettel this year. He didn’t score any points but he’s extremely talented and has worked with Aston Martin (previously Racing Point/Force India) many times in the past.
Another highly talented individual who’s currently not on the grid is Antonio Giovinazzi, the former Alfa Romeo F1 driver. Unless he finds a seat in 2023, and if he doesn’t have any contractual obligations as a test driver for any of the Ferrari-powered teams, he would definitely be worth looking into by Aston Martin.
Third on our list is none other than Alex Albon, who currently races for Williams, but his contract does run out at the end of this season. Albon is young yet experienced beyond his years and it actually makes a lot of sense for him to make the jump from Williams to Aston Martin. If Giovinazzi is more of a long shot, I’d say that Albon is as likely a candidate as Hulkenberg right now.
Finally, Mick Schumacher, who also happens to be Vettel’s no.1 choice as a replacement, but whether Lawrence Stroll can pry him away from Haas remains to be seen.
It sounds like his team will give him quite a spectacular send-off, and there’s plenty of racing to be done between now and Abu Dhabi, which means Vettel can further add to his points tally in the Driver Standings where he’s currently P14 with 15 points to his name.
A few more strong performances and it’s conceivable that he could leapfrog AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, finishing the season in P11, although we wouldn’t bet on it.
Regardless of how he does this year, the fact remains that come 2023, Aston Martin is going to have an available seat and we should talk about a few guys that could end up taking Vettel’s place - racing alongside Lance Stroll who we expect will remain with the team (a team that his father owns).
Now, the first and most obvious name is that of Nico Hulkenberg, who has already stepped in for Vettel this year. He didn’t score any points but he’s extremely talented and has worked with Aston Martin (previously Racing Point/Force India) many times in the past.
Another highly talented individual who’s currently not on the grid is Antonio Giovinazzi, the former Alfa Romeo F1 driver. Unless he finds a seat in 2023, and if he doesn’t have any contractual obligations as a test driver for any of the Ferrari-powered teams, he would definitely be worth looking into by Aston Martin.
Third on our list is none other than Alex Albon, who currently races for Williams, but his contract does run out at the end of this season. Albon is young yet experienced beyond his years and it actually makes a lot of sense for him to make the jump from Williams to Aston Martin. If Giovinazzi is more of a long shot, I’d say that Albon is as likely a candidate as Hulkenberg right now.
Finally, Mick Schumacher, who also happens to be Vettel’s no.1 choice as a replacement, but whether Lawrence Stroll can pry him away from Haas remains to be seen.
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