Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Hungaroring, 2020

Is Vettel’s F1 future now linked to Hamilton’s?

2020 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by and

Speculation over Sebastian Vettel’s future has intensified in the past week as the soon-to-be ex-Ferrari driver was photographed talking to Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz. If there is a route back into his former team for the four-times world champion, the multi-billionaire is the gatekeeper, but team principal Christian Horner continues to insist no changes are planned in their line-up.

The other rumoured destination for Vettel is Racing Point, which will become Aston Martin next year. Recent German media reports indicated this would be as a replacement for Perez, the team’s top points-scorer of the past five seasons, rather than Lance Stroll, whose father is team owner Lawrence.

This would seem to fit Stroll’s modus operandi in cultivating his son’s Formula 1 career. The younger Stroll has regularly been paired with experienced racers whose knowledge he can learn from. Vettel would succeed the likes of Perez and Felipe Massa, and before them Felix Rosenqvist in F3 and Brandon Maisano in F4.

But there may be another reason why the connection to Racing Point, which will become Aston Martin next year, has arisen.

Mercedes is widely expected to extend the contracts of both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas for next year. Recent comments from Daimler board chairman Ola Kallenius indicated as much.

Intriguingly, reports have already surfaced that Bottas’s deal is nearly done. It would be a break with convention if Mercedes were to firm up his deal before the six-times champion’s.

Hamilton has been very quick on the trigger in response to any speculation regarding the size of his next pay day, shooting down “made up” reports on social media. He has also insisted his salary matters less to him than the freedoms his contract permits him away from race weekends.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Nonetheless, it’s not hard to see why his price for next season will be a keenly debated subject. At 35, Hamilton only has a certain number of seasons – and the big-money deals they bring – left in him.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Hungaroring, 2020
How much longer does Hamilton intend to keep racing?
With that in mind, what Wolff needs is a lever with which he can potentially lower Hamilton’s price. That means having a credible candidate for his seat.

Wolff spoke warmly about Vettel following the announcement of his split from Ferrari. However he made it clear Vettel would only be in line for a Mercedes seat if one of the current drivers were to leave.

Hamilton’s plans beyond the end of this season remain unclear. Perhaps he wants a one-year deal, perhaps longer. But Wolff knows from the experience of Nico Rosberg’s abrupt departure at the end of 2016 the value of having a back-up plan.

With Esteban Ocon now at Renault and George Russell yesterday confirming he will remain at Williams for the foreseeable future, is Wolff eyeing Vettel as a potential back-up option if Hamilton should decide to call it a day sometime soon? If so, parking him at the team of his friend Lawrence Stroll would be a sensible move.

This prompted RaceFans to ask Vettel yesterday whether Wolff had helped make an introduction to Racing Point. This would have been an easy suggestion to deny if it wasn’t the case, so it may be significant that Vettel neither confirmed nor denied this was what happened.

“I think in some way you can say that everyone is close to each other in the paddock,” he answered. “So I think given the fact that I’ve been around for such a long time, I came across most people, not all probably, but most people.

Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Red Bull Ring, 2020
Speculation surrounds Perez’s place at Racing Point
“So I think it doesn’t need anybody’s initiative to get to know somebody or to get in touch. So in that regard it’s probably helpful that I’ve been around for a while and know most of the faces and people.”

As far as finding a vacancy at Racing Point goes, Perez’s long-term deal and Stroll’s obviously firm ties to the team appear to rule it out on paper. But again, Vettel has been around the F1 paddock long enough not to take anything for granted.

“I think there’s two ways to look at it,” he said. “One is on paper, obviously, which seats there are and which they’re not. I think for that I probably have too little information in terms of contracts and what are people’s contracts and so on.

“But the other one is I think I’ve been around for a long time and you never know. Obviously things can always change. And I think irrespective of that I need to make the decision myself and then obviously see whether there’s something suitable in in that direction.”

Hanging over all this, of course, is the as-yet unresolved question of the legality of Racing Point’s car. If Vettel can’t get his hands on an actual Mercedes, perhaps Racing Point can supply the closest thing.

View the current list of 2021 F1 drivers and teams

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2020 F1 season

Browse all 2020 F1 season articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

59 comments on “Is Vettel’s F1 future now linked to Hamilton’s?”

  1. Problem: Vettel is not a credible replacement for Hamilton. Surely that’s ‘crystal clear’ from the past few seasons? The only known credible replacement is Verstappen, maybe Alonso. After that, it’s speculation whether the likes of Russell match Hamilton or Verstappen’s level (I don’t think so, both the latter are another level up from almost all F1 drivers, past and present). Obviously if Mercedes retain a dominant car over the next few seasons, Vettel might do, despite all his erratic driving at times. But then Bottas would do too.

    1. proud_asturian
      17th July 2020, 12:53

      You rate Alonso?
      Opinion discarded

      1. You don’t rate Alonso? Many F1 drivers do, but what do they know, everyone is a pundit.

        1. @nickfrog I have a strong feeling that “proud_asturian” is the former site member Jorge Lardon, who seemed to be utterly determined to trash Alonso at every single opportunity and hated him to a worryingly obsessive degree – I believe that action was taken against him because his trolling ran the risk of seeing this site on the receiving end of a libel suit, such were some of the claims he was making against Alonso.

          1. Cheers @anon . There are some serious weirdos out there indeed…

          2. I’ll keep track of him.

        2. Rate Alonso? Yes
          Rate him at Hamilton’s level? No

      2. You don’t rate Alonso?

        Opinion discarded and entire concept of what a racing driver does also discarded in your deluded, warped mind then proud_asturian

      3. Oh, Berate!

    2. @David-br, I largely agree. I don’t see Vettel as “top tier” like Hamilton and Verstappen. He is a great driver, but I don’t consider him on of the *the* greats.

      Bottas may not be top tier either, but he is solid and doesn’t deserve half the criticism he gets. Ocon and Russell do obviously have contracts for next year, but ultimately they seem like the natural successors to a Mercedes seat at some point.

      …But once 2022 hits, Mercedes might not be the team to beat – there could be a new world order in F1.

      1. @geekzilla9000 That’s my view about Bottas. He’s shown he’s fast and reliable enough to win a championship if Mercedes have the fastest car, on consistency and general pace, if not race brilliance. So a HAM replacement has to be for those cases where Mercedes are lagging, or just overall ‘image/story factor’ of having an exciting top driver. I think Alonso would be a better alternative to Vettel as a 2x champion and a phenomenally consistent driver and racer. Though that’s apparently ruled out by Mercedes.

        1. Vettel is a busted flush, he is erratic and backtracks on pre-arraged strategies and team orders, he is an awkward customer to manage and requires too much team/management support when he makes errors (going off track in Canada and still trying to claim the win). He also has fraught relationships with his other team driver (crashes with Leclerc) and he has problems with anger management (nerfing Hamilton because he thought he was being brake-tested). Ferrari have got rid of him presumably for the above reasons. His attractions? He can be fast on occasions but not consistently and not reliable in traffic, so why would any top team consider him for a drive when there is so much good young talent itching for a better seat?

      2. Bruno Verraro
        18th July 2020, 9:42

        HAM didn’t manage to beat VET for half of his carreer..!

    3. Pure speculation by Keith and Deiter.
      Mercedes doesn’t need Vettel as a bargaining lever – they have the upper hand.
      Hamilton can either quit or threaten to change teams.
      He isn’t going to quit so that leaves the option of changing teams.
      What are his chances at winning a WDC with a team other Merc? Very slim.
      He wants more titles and he knows Merc is his best shot.
      Merc will pay him good but doubt he will get what he wants although the way they have kowtowed to him lately it wouldn’t be surprising.

      1. Bruno Verrari
        18th July 2020, 9:45

        The German brand and its German team with a German- Swedish- Finnish board need a German Champ!

        Let the Brit HAM go to the Brittish team Willy and do his politics and stuff🙈!

        1. Casual observer
          18th July 2020, 10:39

          You do realise of course that Mercedes GP although a German brand is designed and built in England!

  2. Everything would have been so much simpler if Hamilton had signed with Ferrari. Then Verstappen would have moved to Mercedes and Vettel back to Red Bull.

    1. @carbon_fibre Ferrari neither seem to want Hamilton, despite his massive status in F1 history, nor want to appear to seem to want him. Which is weird given their back history of signing the best drivers. There’s some kind of subtext in all this. I get the impression Hamilton alludes to it at times. What is notable is that whenever ‘Hamilton to Ferrari’ speculation surfaces, they almost immediately squash it by signing someone else rapidly, apparently already negotiated, like Sainz this year.
      I’d have really liked your scenario, HAM at Ferrari, VER at Mercedes, VET at Red Bull (just because of the ‘return’ story), so it’s a shame.

      1. @david-br There is absolutely no chance that Hamilton wasn’t Ferrari’s first choice. No way.
        It’s Ferrari’s urgency to replace Vettel and Hamilton’s apprehension that have caused all these new driver line-ups for 2021.

        1. @carbon_fibre So you think it’s Hamilton reluctance to move to Ferrari? It always seems the opposite. But maybe you’re right, they contact him and receive a rapid no. Seems unlikely, though, that he’d never want to drive a Ferrari, he’s said so in the past. So why would he reject any approach so quickly?

          1. Well, David, looks like none here is brave enough to discuss why Ferrari had never tried to approach Lewis.

            I guess Lewis is fighting for that right now on paddock…

          2. @david-br I don’t know how you got the impression that Ferrari never wanted Hamilton. The rumours were long-standing and seemed true at times.
            You can’t blame Hamilton for rejecting Ferrari at this point in time. It’s his current team that is dominating right now, the rational move is to stay. It’s Hamilton that alludes Ferrari.

          3. *avoids not alludes, Sorry.

          4. Hi Becken Lima, good to see you again. Yes, I think there are, let’s say, ‘cultural’ reasons why Ferrari have always been reluctant (and I also mean ‘cultural’ in the sense of ‘Ferrari culture’, not just Italian). Maybe linguistic. Definitely Hamilton has been Ferrari’s main rival in two periods, 2007-08 and the entire turbo era, meaning that rivalry and hostility has frequently surfaced. But @carbon_fibre is also right that Hamilton would be wary of a Ferrari move if neither Alonso nor Vettel could get them to a Brawn-era level of professionalism (or the current Mercedes level). Yet why wouldn’t they really try to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse? (Sorry, couldn’t resist it.) Mercedes had to do the same convincing and it took Lauda to swing Lewis’s decision.

          5. @carbon_fibre it depends on what exactly you are expecting that driver to contribute to that team as a wider whole, not just their performance in the cockpit.

            Furthermore, it also depends on what exactly the team is aiming to achieve and how it might be looking to develop itself in the coming years. In the case of Ferrari, it seems that fairly significant operational changes are likely, both those that directly relate to their on track performance and those that relate to the redeployment of people within the team to other projects (potentially WEC, IndyCar or other projects).

            Ferrari also know that, with the postponement of the 2021 reforms to 2022, both this year and next year will see them likely struggle with a potentially uncompetitive car. It has been noted that, with Sainz and Leclerc, Ferrari have adopted an unusually young driver line up, suggesting their strategy is focussing more on long term reform of the team around two drivers who can be there for multiple years (remember that Leclerc signed a 5 year contract with Ferrari) – if their strategy is focussing around where they might be in 3 or 4 years, then their current driver line up makes more sense.

        2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          17th July 2020, 14:02

          He was out of their league post-FIA settlement. They need a driver who’s content to race P6 in the championship at best.

          1. @freelittlebirds Agrred, but see above: they could have tried to convince Hamilton that they’re set up ideally for 2022+.

          2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            17th July 2020, 15:34

            @david-br yeah but a driver like Lewis, or Vettel for that matter, can’t waste a whole season languishing in the midfield. He’s a totally different stage in his career than he was when he switched to Mercedes. Plus McLaren had shown that there was no end to the abyss and Lewis’ points weren’t welcome.

            Lewis could join Ferrari if they prove that they have the best car in 2022. They can justifiably toss out any driver to bring him on board and win a championship with him.

        3. Why would Hamilton join Ferrari when he already is in a better team?

          Ferrari yes is massive symbol wise but they haven’t won any title in years and looking at them now, thehre unlikely to soon if they keep this up.

          Also Leclerc already has good potential and he isn’t going to play second fiddle to Hamilton. Hamilton knows that too and would rather have a (relatively) cooperstive teamate like Bottas.

      2. Racism maybe? I’m not sure Hamilton fits in the ‘brand image’ Ferrari wants to portrey.

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      17th July 2020, 14:00

      COTD:)

    3. @carbon_fibre I don’t think Hamilton would ever want to drive for Ferrari, unless they became clearly the dominant team and was his only option to win races/championships. I don’t think Ferrari would allow him the leeway and freedom he enjoys at Mercedes to pursue his other interests, and I don’t think he would want to spend as much time in Italy as Ferrari would want from him.

      Certainly there was no chance he would leave Mercedes for Ferrari right now. That would be essentially giving up a likely championship victory next year in the hopes that Ferrari have a championship contender in 2022. And given recent history of Mercedes and Ferrari, coupled with the power unit situation, Mercedes will still be favourites for the 2022 generation cars.

  3. What is Lewis wearing here, anybody know?

    1. Good question, must be some kind of political message.

      And why does he wear glasses.?

      1. Its the hand of Jesus (hence the mark) reaching down to pull someone up out the fire. And he wears glasses because he gets paid $2 million to.

        Its a familiar image that allows schoolboys to snigger amongst themselves

        https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/557883472590279826/

    2. It is supposed the be the hand of Jesus, but it looks like a vagina.

      https://readsector.com/lewis-hamilton-wears-kooky-jumper-at-the-hungarian-grand-prix/

      1. Looks more like an anus than a vagina.

        1. He’s talking about the jumper.

          1. Brilliant :)

      2. Thanks for the link. It looks like the hand of a skeleton touching trying to touch the nail mark in Jesus’s hand.

    3. I’ve been trying to figure out what my eyes seem to be telling me yet I’m saying its not possible.
      Looks like a quantum opening of some kind.

  4. RaceFans to ask Vettel yesterday whether Wolff had helped make an introduction to Racing Point

    That’s brilliant. Vettel unwillingness to answered it directly just prove the point.

    1. @ruliemaulana He denied it at the very end of his answer, though.

      1. @jerejj He said he didn’t need helped but not saying that Wolff didn’t initiated the conversation.

        1. It was a stupid question, which Seb answered by saying that he was old enough and had been around long enough not to need introductions. Yet despite that the “journalist” here decided to make it a story.

  5. Around 2014 I remember Hamilton had several comments about how he plans 7 more years in the sport, stopping in 2021. The following years he hasn’t talked about it so concretely, but it stuck with me then as a well thought out idea — that would make a 15 year career, and as we could have expected at the time seeing how Mercedes was beginning their dominance, just enough time to equal and beat all of Schumacher’s records, still leaving Hamilton a long long time to start endeavors in his other interests after leaving F1.

    With Rosberg only winning one championship, he’s still on track to achieve those goals (especially with this year’s car and no regs change for 2021), and his comments from this year regarding his future indicate to me that he might be really about to hang up his helmet soon. I don’t know how motivated he would be after setting the all time records, which I’m pretty sure he will do, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he only signed for one year, and decide on possibly continuing only late next year. I think that could be the way in for Vettel to Mercedes in 2022, which, from listening to his answers yesterday to Will Buxton (he said that we all know which car you want to be in if you want to win races), I think he finds more appealing than a place at Aston.

    1. @hunocsi Hamilton clearly loves racing (as well as the other bits of his life). So I think there are two paths forward if and when he achieves the all time championship and win records: 1. He leaves F1 if Mercedes remain dominant, 2. He jumps to another team if they prove as good as or better than Merc for 2022 or 2023 and he either has a McLaren comeback (if it’s them) or he wins for yet another team, which would be Fangio-like motivation at least.

      1. @david-br
        Well even Hamilton won’t know ahead of 2022 which team will be on the level of Mercedes, so a change then could end up like the Ricciardo-Renault situation, jumping into a promising-but-underwhelming team. 2023 seems a bit far away, but who knows. It’s hard for me to imagine him in another team, and he sounds pretty loyal to Mercedes, so McLaren teaming up with Mercedes again might be the only place he would realistically go, but I think they are in for a long run with the Norris-Ricciardo pairing.

        In my view, he will either stop when he wins his 8th WDC next year, or if he’s still motivated to keep on racing, he will try the new cars for a year or two, but only at Mercedes.

        1. @hunocsi You may be right. Then again Hamilton likes surprise moves. I’ve heard the argument about sticking with Mercedes ‘loyally’ until the end of his F! career to ensure an ‘ambassador’ role for them after leaving, but would a year or two elsewhere (specifically driving a non-Merc engine) seriously dent that after so many years experience with the team? I doubt it.

    2. I think this is quite a likely scenario. I think Hamilton possibly only wants a one year extension at this stage, with the option of more years. He could have two more WDCs by the end of 2021 so what is the point in him going on?

      Equally I cannot see him moving to any other team now. He must like being at the top so what is the point in him driving around in another car that might be uncompetitive.

  6. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    17th July 2020, 13:44

    I’d imagine the only reason Mercedes are keen on leaving a light on for Vettel is in case Hamilton chooses to leave, and that’s only because Renault have Ocon and Williams wouldn’t agree to release Russell. It’s nothing more than a backup plan in case he ‘does a Rosberg’ – which let’s be honest is enormously unlikely.

    1. @rocketpanda I think the Vettel angle (> Racing Point > Mercedes) is just being worked up as some contract negotiation leverage because, as you imply, there’s really little else Mercedes can convincingly use.

  7. pastaman (@)
    17th July 2020, 13:50

    Speculation based on rumor. Sounds legit

  8. Vettel is done.

    Stroll wants him to show Lance how to drive, he’ll be the most expensive driving instructor ever.

    Once Hamilton retires he’ll be replaced by Verstappen, possibly Russell or Norris, if either impresses enough.

  9. I think Lewis will win the next two championships and retire at the end of 2021 with 8 titles to his name. The sticking point here is that in order to depart amicably, he needs only to sign a one year deal, which would signal far too prematurely that he’s headed for retirement. Alternatively, he could sign a multi year contract, like Rosberg did, and come to a mutual agreement with Mercedes to part ways irrespective of the deal having more years to run.
    He will be aware of the unnecessary risk posed by staying on beyond 2021 – not only because the regulation overhaul and budget cap could erase Mercedes’ advantage, but also because of the uncertainty surrounding the Daimler group’s long term commitment to the sport and the possibility of Toto Wolff joining Aston Martin.
    Money is not the sticking point here – it’s about his legacy, the crux of which hangs on whether he decides to commit to F1 post 2021 or not. Both have great potential for upside – but realistically, only one of those options has potential for great downside and that is what’s making his decision all the more difficult to make.
    If I was Sebastian, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

  10. It would be a break with convention if Mercedes were to firm up [Bottas’s] deal before the six-times champion’s.

    I agree, it wouldn’t make sense to sign Valtteri before they had gotten Lewis to sign. It’s sort of odd that even George Russell has been signed, but maybe Williams wanted him to do that so that if Lewis decides to throw in the towel then Mercedes would need to buy him out of his contract.

  11. Keeping aside the argument, what on earth is Lewis wearing? God awful!

  12. If Germany loses it’s only driver from F1, a 4x world champion at that, when German giant Mercedes Benz had a seat available … Toto is going to be very unpopular with the German public & many people on the board who approve his budget and salary.

    He has probably realised this by now, & will be working overtime to either call in favours, or give away concessions around the paddock.

    We know Papa Stroll owes him for the 2019 Mercedes cars already, but it would be interesting to know what Toto has offered up to Dietrich, since those are the only two realistic options. Unless he still has levers to pull Ocon out of his Renault seat, but that is an unlikely scenario.

  13. Is that a glans on Lewis’ sweater?

Comments are closed.