Sightings of Sebastian Vettel with Racing Point bosses at Silverstone are raising thoughts that a deal for 2021 maybe done.
The four-time world champion is being heavily linked to the team that will be known as Aston Martin from next season and he was seen bumping elbows with owner Lawrence Stroll in the paddock before being later spotted leaving the track with team boss Otmar Szafnauer.
Vettel to Aston Martin:
Movement on the deal occurred over the British GP weekend and rumours in the paddock point to it happening – Ted Kravitz (Sky)
Seb was spotted getting into the passenger seat of Otmar Szafnauer’s car post race – Mark Sutton ( F1 Photographer)
And ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/QV6Oqvgyq8
— Taylor (@TPowlingSport) August 3, 2020
Of course, those two moments may just be coincidental, with Vettel and Szafnauer inparticular having a long relationship together, but the word from the paddock is that there very well be more to read into it.
“Did you think it was an interesting elbow bump between Sebastian Vettel and Lawrence Stroll, the owner of the Racing Point team? I thought it was,” said Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz during his popular ‘Ted’s Notebook’ commentary.
“Rumour was at the beginning of the weekend that we might get an announcement that a deal had been done for Seb to join Racing Point next year on a multi-year contract when it becomes Aston Martin – but then Sergio Perez’s Covid-19 positive test came through and it was clear that there wasn’t going to be any kind of announcement.
“They wouldn’t do that to Sergio.
“I think maybe the deal isn’t properly done but it does seem that we’ve had movement this weekend on that and there seems to be little doubt in this paddock right now that Sebastian Vettel will be wearing some sort of silver, pink or green, depending on who the sponsors are of Aston Martin next year.
“I know we’ve all seen it coming but that seems to be on its way to being done.”
Only on Thursday, however, Vettel was adamant his future had not been decided and there was no rush to do so as he considers what is best for him.
But on the same day, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who holds a stake in Aston Martin and therefore might be more in the loop on the topic, said this…
“I know that discussions are ongoing,” he told the Osterreich newspaper.
Also Read:
- Vettel admits ‘rough start’ to final year at Ferrari ‘not ideal’
- Is Vettel the right man for Aston Martin? All Ricciardo knows is he’d need ‘patience’
- Vettel will only stay in F1 to be competitive, coy on Aston Martin move
“It is not easy to replace Checo Perez with Vettel because he is an important and positive part of the team, but from an Aston Martin perspective, it would be a huge coup.
“Germany is the second most important market for Aston Martin but I don’t want to talk the team into making this decision.”
Don’t worry Toto, it looks like you already did.
