Possible Daniel Ricciardo replacements: Sebastian Vettel
After all the shifts at Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, there is only one driver who currently competes for any one of these three teams who does not have a contract to compete somewhere next year, and that is four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel.
It had long been speculated that the 2020 season would be Vettel’s final season Ferrari, despite the team stating that they wanted to retain him for the 2021 season, and his fate was pretty much sealed when he was offered a deal he reportedly referred to as a “joke”.
The 32-year-old German had been linked to McLaren over the offseason even before his Ferrari departure had been confirmed, but that door quickly shut by Daniel Ricciardo making the move from Renault to the Woking-based team.
In fact, Ricciardo was confirmed as Carlos Sainz Jr.’s replacement at McLaren even before Ferrari made their Sainz signing official.
Vettel does have a few possibilities, aside of retirement, for next season, and Renault could end up being one of them. According to what managing director Cyril Abiteboul has stated on numerous occasions, they are looking for a younger driver to pair alongside Esteban Ocon next year, but he admitted back in March that Vettel would be an attractive option.
Now Vettel is officially available. Here is what Abiteboul had to say, according to Autosport.
"“I don’t want to say no, as [Vettel] is a great driver, and a great champion. We worked together on the engine side and we won together. [But] I rather aspire to work with tomorrow’s drivers than yesterday’s. It really is very difficult to sum it up like that, so please don’t sum it up like that about Sebastian. Still, we also have a driver academy, with drivers who might come out of it in 2021 or 2022.”"
So it’s not likely, but depending on how much those young driver are able to progress in a limited season of Formula 2, who knows?
Even if it’s not Vettel, could Renault turn to the past?