After Pérez’s announcement, what are Vettel’s chances of finding a seat?

Editor’s note on 10.09.2020 at 10am: This article was written on Wednesday, September 9, before Racing Point officially announced Vettel’s arrival at Aston Martin in 2021.

Without a seat for 2021, Sebastian Vettel didn’t really have the king’s choice until this Wednesday evening. The contracts for Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault drivers are all signed and official. So, he doesn’t have many options left to secure a seat in a big team capable of achieving podiums in 2021.

Yet with surprise, Sergio Perez announced this Wednesday evening that he would leave the team at the end of the 2020 season. This leaves a spot in a good team, like Racing Point, which will be renamed Aston Martin from next season.

But in a recent interview, Otmar Szafnauer, the director of Racing Point, said he had a very good duo of drivers this season. And when asked if Sebastian Vettel has a chance to be part of the Racing Point drivers in 2021, he explains that it was never planned and that his drivers have been official for already two years. A clarification, before the announcement of Sergio Pérez’s departure.

So, while nothing has been decided yet on that front for Vettel, other options, albeit more uncertain, are still possible.

At Red Bull and AlphaTauri, not all drivers have been confirmed yet. Currently, only Max Verstappen has a contract until 2023. Albon could still give up his seat to Vettel if Christian Horner decided so. At AlphaTauri, possibilities are also still open, even if it’s not the team’s usual practice, as they prefer drivers coming from lower series like F2 or F3.

The teams powered by Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Haas have not yet confirmed their drivers. Sebastian Vettel could therefore logically be part of these teams next year. Kimi Räikkönen, although still performing well, has a lot of experience in F1. He could logically give up his seat to the German, but this is also the case for Giovinazzi, who is not having a perfect season.

At Haas, the driver duo has not yet been confirmed. At Williams, with the recent acquisition by Dorlington Capital, the driver duo could still change for next year. Is it still an acceptable challenge for the German, considering how far the team is in performance?

Four months ago, Ferrari announced via a statement that Vettel would not be extended in 2021, replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr from McLaren.