Formula 1: 3 drivers and teams who control silly season

Formula 1 silly season: No. 2 – Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin

Last year, Aston Martin hinted that Sebastian Vettel’s contract with the team runs through the 2023 season, but since then, it has been revealed that his deal with the team is really just a two-year deal which expires at the end of the 2022 season.

Provided that the team can give him a car capable of running well, which is something with which they struggled throughout the start of the 2022 season, Vettel will have no reason not to come back, and the team would have no reason to welcome him back. He has consistently outperformed teammate Lance Stroll since arriving last year.

Aston Martin have scored points in five of the last six races, including in Baku where Vettel overcame an early mistake and rallied to finish in a season-best sixth place, after they were the only team that did not score any points in the season’s first three races.

But it has been clear for quite a few seasons that the four-time world champion is not competing at the level he once did, and there is little reason to believe that he will be able to contend for wins or even more podium finishes with Aston Martin — or with any other team that may have an opening between now and whenever he decides to retire.

Whether or not he decides that this year is his last may depend on number three, however.