The early favourite among the candidates to replace Vettel
Sebastian Vettel’s decision to retire from Formula 1 won’t have come out of the blue to Aston Martin given it has long been a possibility. But it does leave the team in need of a new driver for 2023
Sebastian Vettel’s Formula 1 retirement won’t have come out of the blue to Aston Martin given it has long been a possibility. But it does leave the team in need of a new driver for 2023.
Lance Stroll is firmly ensconced within the team and will do at least a solid job, but securing the right successor to Vettel is essential. And the available options are limited.
Fernando Alonso has been linked to the team before but is known to be close to agreeing a new Alpine deal, meaning that while he’s an obvious choice his destiny appears to lie elsewhere.
Daniel Ricciardo is under contract to McLaren and has control of whether or not he stays next year, but there does remain the chance the team could attempt to negotiate his departure.
Were Ricciardo to become available, he would be another obvious name to put near the top of the list given that, despite his struggles, he’s an eight-time grand prix winner and someone proven to have the ability to get results.
Aston Martin also has another option in its own stable in Nico Hulkenberg, who has done an admirable job as a stand-in whenever called up by the Silverstone-based team in recent times. But although the 34-year-old would be an easy option given he’s already in the family, Aston Martin doesn’t appear to see him as more than a very good reserve.
There are others whose futures are unclear, for example Zhou Guanyu at Alfa Romeo, or Alpine-contracted Oscar Piastri who at one point appeared destined for Williams, and there’s always the possibility Aston Martin could move to buy out a contracted driver such as Kevin Magnussen. There’s also the Mercedes-aligned Nyck de Vries, who has had fairly extensive F1 preparations. But there’s one person with a tangential connection to Aston Martin who is out of contract and would be the obvious successor to Vettel – Mick Schumacher.
The relationship between Vettel and Schumacher is well known. Clips of them enquiring about each other’s results over the radio on slowdown laps are regularly circulated and Vettel has played a key role as mentor to Schumacher.
You can therefore imagine Vettel laying the groundwork for Schumacher to take his place as what might be called a retirement package. If he was on the fence about whether or not to continue, the chance to pave the way for his protege to succeed him could conceivably have been the clincher in his decision-making process.
Schumacher would also work for Aston Martin, which would revel in having the Schumacher name in the car. And remember, this is the team that, in its Jordan guise, gave his father Michael his F1 debut back in 1991. That means there’s an emotional and historical connection between Schumacher and the team as well as between Vettel and Schumacher.
Ferrari has a stake in Schumacher, having brought him into its driver academy at the start of 2019, but it doesn’t see Schumacher as a serious candidate for a drive. Not only does it have a very strong line-up with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, but also a relatively young one that could stay together for a long time. What’s more, Schumacher has not done enough to force himself into the conversation as a potential driver for the Scuderia. So Ferrari is unlikely to stand in his way.
So everything points to Schumacher being available to Aston Martin should it want him. Signing him would also allow Stroll, who enters his seventh season next year, to be seen as the senior partner in the team. Regardless of where you stand on Stroll’s abilities – and he’s a decent enough grand prix driver but not an extraordinary one – Lawrence Stroll’s desire to make his son a world champion remains strong.
As for Schumacher himself, he has weathered the early season storm that culminated in his car-splitting crash at the Monaco Grand Prix and started to put together the kinds of performances he should be capable of. In Austria, in particular, he appeared quicker than team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
What that shows is that Schumacher could at least do a decent job were he to race an Aston Martin. It would be exaggerating to say he’s shown he can be an F1 top gun, but with a couple of seasons of experience that should include a decent second half of 2022, he has proved himself at least a capable performer. And he would have the chance to develop further at Aston Martin.
It must be noted that Aston Martin has made no comment on Vettel’s successor and right now there’s no firm evidence that Schumacher will take the drive. But all the pieces do fit, so unless a driver the calibre of Alonso or Ricciardo really were an option, Schumacher is the logical choice for this team in particular given Vettel’s presence.
Schumacher may not be the best driver who is theoretically available, but he’s one that would fit the bill for Aston Martin. And Vettel himself would be delighted to facilitate Schumacher driving for the team through his own departure.
