Lewis Hamilton’s first reaction to Sebastian Vettel announcing his retirement was: “You’ll be back.” Who would have thought that comeback could be Vettel replacing Hamilton at Mercedes? Well, the German is certainly not averse to the idea. However, he hasn’t confirmed anything either.
Speaking with Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung recently, Vettel said, “I also said back then that there won’t be a clear no in that sense, because I believe that everything is a process. And maybe there will come a point when I say: yes, I would like to come back [to F1]. Once I get it sorted mentally so that it suddenly makes sense again. At the moment, however, I’m doing very well without driving F1. There’s no definite no, but there’s no definite yes either.”
Sebastian Vettel retired from F1 at the end of the 2022 season, which was his second year at Aston Martin. The team failed to cope with the new ground effect regulations and managed only a P7 finish in the standings. However, he worked extensively on the 2023 car, which turned out to be a massive improvement over its predecessor. His replacement Fernando Alonso took full advantage of the car, landing 8 podium finishes in the season.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel fans never lost hope of a comeback. Many believed the German could follow Alonso’s path, who took a 2-year sabbatical before marking his return to F1 in 2021. Hamilton cited the Spaniard’s example as well while predicting a comeback for his F1 frenemy.
Can Sebastian Vettel replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes?
Lewis Hamilton dropped a bombshell with the announcement of his departure from Mercedes at the end of 2024. What came as a bigger shock was his decision to join direct rivals Ferrari. Ever since then, speculations have been running wild over the possible replacement options available at Toto Wolff’s disposal.
The Mercedes team principal himself hasn’t found the answer to the fundamental question that hangs over his head. He admitted, “I think we have to decide after the three races, do we go for the youth and long term or for the experience and optimize it in the short term to give the youth a bit more experience.”
In his defense, Wolff is spoiled for choice. Hamilton’s Mercedes seat being one of the most sought-after in F1, the Austrian manager has ample options available for either philosophy he might choose to go with.
From 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli to 24-year-old Mick Schumacher, Wolff has no dearth of options for young drivers. The same goes for experienced drivers, with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel being possible choices. The only catch is that Wolff might have to convince Vettel to join his team and not the other way around.
