With the summer break in full flow and the driver market sent into overdrive following Fernando Alonso’s shock announcement that he will move to Aston Martin in 2023, what now for Sebastian Vettel?
The German driver announced ahead of the Hungarian GP that this season would be his last in Formula 1 after 13 years in the sport and a stellar career in which he won four successive world championship titles with Red Bull.
While the latter half of his career has failed to yield similar success at first Ferrari and more recently the revived Aston Martin team, Vettel could well have a future in the sport outside of the cockpit.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said in an interview with German magazine Bild that Vettel would always remain a part of the sport, and that there could be another position open for him in the upper echelons in the years to come.
“Of course we want his connection to Formula 1 to remain close,” Domenicali said.
“If he is interested in being part of our system and our ideas fit, it will be a pleasure to welcome him here.”
In recent years Vettel has become an increasingly outspoken advocate of environmental causes, and this season has adorned his helmets with a series of messages critical of current responses to the issue.
As the sport moves to meet its net-zero target by the end of the decade and the use of sustainable fuels in cars, we could well see Vettel retaining a prominent role in the future of F1.
