As speculation continues to grow, Sebastian Vettel has been linked with three possible outcomes in 2021.
Currently the four-time world champion is without a seat for next season having been dropped by Ferrari and possible options at Mercedes and Red Bull appear to have closed.
Another destination that appeared to have been ruled out was Aston Martin, who currently race as Racing Point, with CEO Otmar Szafnauer declaring in Austria they had no intention of replacing either Sergio Perez or Lance Stroll.
Now, however, the Silverstone-based team appears to be the most likely with both Bild and Autosport claiming a deal is close between the two.
According to the German publication, Racing Point owner Lawrence Stroll is triggering a release clause in Perez’s contract, which runs until the end of 2022, that allows him to buy out of the deal and sign Vettel alongside his son for next season.
Autosport then backed up the report with its own sources and noted these comments from Red Bull boss Christian Horner last weekend in Austria which hinted at such a possibility.
“I guess he’s got a couple of choices available to him, I assume either Racing Point, or a year out and re-evaluate the options in a year’s time,” said Vettel’s former boss.
“I don’t think Lance is going to get fired! Of course drivers’ contracts between the teams, you never know what’s within them, it’s only the Contract Recognition Board that has full sight of them.
“I’m sure that perhaps they have options, or break points, or whatever, but that’s really none of our business.”
Before the latest reports, Vettel also appeared to be given a potential lifeline by Haas boss Guenther Steiner, who was open to working with the 33-year-old.
“He’s a four-time world champion,” he was quoted by GPFans. “Does he want to come to a smaller team? What does he want to do in life? I don’t know.
“If he wants to do something, for sure, we’ve got a good relationship.”
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The final option though is of course retirement and rumours began that Vettel was set to announce just that after reportedly requesting an interview with Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle set for Wednesday.
“Not true,” he told AutobBild replying to the suggestion.
“An interview with Sky in Austria was actually planned. We had to postpone that in favour of ORF to Hungary. That was what the conversation with Brundle was about and nothing else.
“This has been a little exaggerated.”
