The career of Sebastian Vettel started with much promise. It started with a pole position and race win in an inadequate Toro Rosso car, promptly followed by 4 world championships in a row (a feat only achieved by Fangio and Schumacher) from 2010-2013 with Red Bull. All this success came to a grinding halt with the arrival of the V6 turbo/hybrid engines in 2014. It’s likely that it may not have been the engines that have given him trouble over the last half a decade.

Throughout all his years of success, Vettel was always the younger ‘superstar’ of the team. In 2014 for the rst time ever he was the elder statesman with the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo. In his rst season as the old guy, he was beaten quite comprehensively by his younger teammate. Then he sought a fresh start with his move to Ferrari, a move that made him the younger team member and title contender for the next 4 years. Over these 4 years, he also beat Kimi Raikkonen quite comfortably, which may be a result of being in his happy place as the younger driver. The arrival of Charles Leclerc helped this theory along as he was yet again beaten over the 2019 season by a younger teammate.

Over the course of his 13-year career he’s only spent 3 years as the older driver which seems to be a position that is a little too uncomfortable for him. Now Vettel is the fourth oldest driver on the grid, so the likelihood of him ever being the younger driver is quite low. He has also stated recently that he won’t just settle for any drive, leaving him with very few options to stay in F1.

Here’s a look at his options for the 2021 season:

There are still a few seats ‘open’ at the front of the grid and pending the performance of the teams in 2020, some left- eld options may become attractive. If it remains the status quo in F1 then the front teams may stick for stability rather than something new, even if that something new comes in the form of a 4-time world champion. Vettel has also recently stated that once he leaves F1 he’ll be leaving for good, this is why retirement is now looming as a very real possibility.

The racing point team is emerging as one of Sebastian Vettel’s last hopes in F1. Both current drivers are under contract for next season but as we all know, anything can happen in F1. The situation here is a little di erent from other potential destinations, that is the fact that both Stroll and Perez bring a nancial contribution to the team. Lance Stroll’s father is also the team owner, so he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Then Sergio Perez brings in funding from 3 personal sponsors of his. Sebastian Vettel does also have a personal sponsor of his own, but that wouldn’t come anywhere close to helping with the wage demands that come from a 4-time champion. Unless Vettel is happy to take a huge pay cut, then it doesn’t make nancial sense for this team to take him on. Although the new team owners have quite deep pockets, so they may be willing to pay a little more than the team is used to paying to ensure they land a top driver.

Technically Mercedes still has an empty seat for next year as Lewis Hamilton is yet to sign on for 2021. You don’t have to read too far between the lines though to see that this driver lineup is fairly certain to stay the same. Nothing is certain though until the papers are signed so unless Lewis Hamilton decides to retire I don’t think we’ll see a change in this lineup. Toto Wolf is also one of the only team principals to not have already publicly shut down the possibility of Vettel joining them. He does also know what it takes to keep his team in the spotlight both on and o the track, so he may just be saying this to keep everyone on their toes and talking about his team.

Christian Horner is another team boss that knows how to keep everyone on their toes. In years gone by though we’ve learned that what he says publicly may not always be what is going to transpire, as Daniel Ricciardo’s ‘sudden’ departure to Renault showed us. That was a situation though that was partly out of his control, whereas this time the decision is in his and his team's favour. Horner has recently publicly stated that Red Bull won’t be signing Sebastian Vettel for 2021 and this time I tend to believe what he has to say. At the moment they have two talented young drivers that will be able to be part of the Red Bull program for years to come. They’ll only stay though if Red Bull remains committed to them and the plans they have for the future.

The rest of the teams aren’t really going to be an option for 2021 for a variety of reasons. Renault and McLaren have both recently secured their lineups for 2021. Alpha Tauri is Red Bull’s junior team and is supposed to be the breeding ground for the Red Bull stars of the future. Williams seems to be a team on the up, and along with Racing Point are my picks for the most improved teams this year. For Williams, though this won’t be enough to secure the services of a 4-time world champion. Finally, this leaves Alfa Romeo and Haas. Both of these teams haven’t improved at the same rate as the teams around them and if Sebastian Vettel is to go to a mid eld team it’ll be with one on its way up the order rather than down.

Where Does Vettel Go From Here?

RETIREMENT

RACING POINT

(ASTON MARTIN IN 2021)

MERCEDES

RED BULL

OTHER TEAMS