Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has poured cold water on the prospect of Sebastian Vettel returning to Formula 1 to replace the departing Lewis Hamilton at the team in 2025.
Vettel opted to retire from the sport at the end of 2022, bringing the curtain down on an acclaimed career that had comprised four Drivers’ titles, 53 wins and 122 podiums.
But having only turned 36 last July, Vettel has been touted to emulate the likes of Fernando Alonso, who replaced him at Aston Martin, in making an F1 comeback.
When asked last year by Sky F1’s Martin Brundle whether he would consider reigniting his racing career, Vettel answered: “I can’t say no, because that you don’t know.”
“I think it’s something that if you asked all of them, probably some of them would have said ‘no’. And some of them I don’t know, but in the end all of them came back, so I can’t exclude it.”
After being ousted from Ferrari at the end of 2020, Vettel endured two seasons with Aston Martin mired in the midfield before closing the curtain on his extensive period in F1.
The German has admitted that only the optimal “challenge” would cause him to even contemplate the possibility of cutting short his retirement to return to a cockpit full-time.
However, that could have arisen with the news earlier this week that Lewis Hamilton will be ending his long association with Mercedes to move to Ferrari from 2025.
And according to the Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, Vettel has supposedly “expressed his desire to return to the GPs”.
The source also suggests that there has been contact between Vettel and Audi, who will complete a full takeover of Sauber in 2026 to enter as a works manufacturer.
On the basis that Vettel would be sounding out potential opportunities, the chance to drive for a Mercedes team that won a title as recently as 2021 would surely be enticing.
Meanwhile, Wolff, who is a long-time friend of Vettel’s, is reported to have not “discarded Seb’s candidacy” when the four-time champion was searching for a seat in 2020.
But when he was pressed on the topic of Vettel being an option for Mercedes for next year, Wolff told German outlet AMuS: “I think he made the decision to not race anymore.
“We are talking on a regular basis. We’ve also talked yesterday, but it wasn’t about driving for us in the future.”
Although Mercedes stands to lose the wealth of experience Hamilton possessed, Wolff believes that George Russell’s presence negates the need for a team leader.
“With all the Lewis discussion something that has not been talked enough is George,” he told media, including Motorsport Week.
“George has the potential to be the next lead driver in the team, he’s of the generation of Lando [Norris] and [Charles] Leclerc and some of the others, and I couldn’t wish for a new team leader when Lewis leaves, no doubt about that, so we have such a solid foundation such a, quick and talented and intelligent guy in the car that we just need to take the right choice for the second driver, the second seat. That’s not something I want to be rushed in.”
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