Formula 1: 5 drivers who could retire next
By Asher Fair
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel, like Kimi Raikkonen, is set to enter a contract year in Formula 1 in the 2020 season. While 32 years of age isn’t exactly old, Vettel is one of only seven drivers competing in the sport who is over the age of 30.
Vettel’s recent dip in performance has caused there to be a lot of rumors about his future beyond what is slated to be his sixth season with Ferrari in 2020 after extending his initial three-year contract by another three years back in August of 2017.
Based on the math, Vettel threw away enough points in the 2017 season and the 2018 season via unforced errors to cost himself both championships, factoring in both the points he lost and the points that Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who won the championships in both years, gained as a result of those errors.
Hamilton is a six-time world champion while Vettel is a four-time world champion, but minus a few (okay, many) crucial errors, that could very well be the other way around entering the 2020 campaign.
It could be Vettel looking to tie fellow German Michael Schumacher for the all-time Formula 1 world titles record, not Hamilton looking to do it competing for a German manufacturer.
The subject of Vettel returning, or not returning, to Ferrari in 2021 has been a hot topic this offseason, especially after the team effectively committed to Charles Leclerc as their primary long-term option by extending his contract through 2024.
Several drivers have been linked to Ferrari’s second seat alongside Leclerc in 2021, and if Vettel does not retain his ride, would he really settle in elsewhere? With four championships and 53 wins, the third highest win total in Formula 1 history, he has already done it all.