Mick Schumacher and Fernando Alonso have been linked to taking Sebastian Vettel’s seat at Aston Martin in 2023.
According to the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, the four-time world champion is looking increasingly likely to retire from Formula 1 at the end of this season.
Vettel missed the first two races of 2022 due to Covid-19 and Aston Martin has already conceded they need to provide Seb with a more competitive car if they are to convince him to stay.
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If the 36-year-old does retire, team owner Lawrence Stroll is rumoured to prefer Alonso as his replacement given his pedigree.
This, as Alpine has set a July deadline on whether they stick with the Spaniard or promote junior driver Oscar Piastri for next season.
However, the Italian publication claims Schumacher’s name has now been added to the list with Aston reportedly wanting to use his surname and nationality to boost car sales.
The young German is having a frustrating start to 2022. He has been largely dominated by teammate Kevin Magnussen and is one of only two drivers yet to score a point, the other being Nicholas Latifi.
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner recently upped the pressure on Mick by stating there would be a “queue” of drivers looking to take his seat if results didn’t improve.
But a move to Aston Martin, replacing the driver seen as his mentor, might represent an opportunity for Schumacher, although he would potentially have to break his ties with Ferrari to do so.
Unsurprisingly, the team is tight-lipped on the matter, making the report purely speculative, but does indicate that the start of ‘silly season’ in the F1 driver market may not be far away.