Sebastian Vettel appears to be heading for an Alonso like, F1 sabbatical now that the door has been firmly shut in his face by both Red Bull and Racing Point for 2021.
In Thursday’s F1 media conference, Vettel answered “Yes” to a question of would he take a seat at Red Bull if offered one for 2021. However, on Friday morning Team Principal Christian Horner quashed that possibility, Horner told Sky Sports F1.
“We had a brilliant time with Seb, he’ll forever be a part of our history, but we didn’t expect him to be on the market this year, and our commitment is to our existing drivers in 2021″.
Racing Point’s boss Otmar Szafnauer parroted much the same song when the question of whether the four-time world champion might join the team in place of either Lance Stroll or Sergio Perez. Szafnauer adding
“Well it’s like I’ve said before it’s flattering that everyone thinks a four-time world champion should come to our team but maybe that’s because the car’s a bit quicker now!”
The door had already been slammed shut at Renault earlier in the week when they announced Fernando Alonso would be making a sensational return to F1 after two years away.
Vettel has repeatedly said that he is only interested in a team with a car that has the potential to win, so unless he lowers his expectations significantly, expect an announcement in the next few days confirming a sabbatical for 2021.