Sebastian Vettel spoke to Toto Wolff about the soon-to-be vacant 2025 Mercedes race seat, but they talked more about what's going on than about him replacing Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton shocked the motorsport world and team boss Wolff in February when he announced that this season would be his 12th and final year with Mercedes.
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Wolff, who was informed by Hamilton over coffee as the news began to leak, told Fox Sports Australia that “after five minutes of shock and disbelief” his thoughts changed to the future.
Of course, the big thing to consider was who would replace Hamilton in 2025.
From Fernando Alonso to Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz, Wolff has hand-picked the drivers who are not under contract for next season, with Max Verstappen also rumored to be on Hamilton's race seat. I'm even thinking about the possibility.
But they are not the only candidates, with four-time world champion Vettel, who retired after the 2022 season, also said to be in the running.
The 36-year-old German admitted that he has been in contact with Wolff, but it has more to do with finding out what is going on than negotiating his arrival.
“We talked on the phone and we didn't talk specifically about the fact that I could be the replacement, but rather about the fact that there is a lot going on at Mercedes,” he told sport.de. Told.
He admitted that he was “thinking about” and “considering” the idea of a comeback, but said, “When I made the decision at the time, there were several reasons for it.”
However, Vettel told the publication that he had “plans for F1” and had already done so this year, but did not go into details other than to say he did not know “whether it will happen or not.”
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Vettel, who quit F1 to focus on his family and bees, recently tested a Porsche 963 with the possibility of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Although he is testing the car in Spain, the four-time F1 world champion is yet to decide whether he wants to take part in the iconic race.
“We don't know yet. That's the honest answer,” he said.
Exploring the “curiosity and feel of what a long-distance car feels like,” he says, “was a rich experience. The car is a completely different thing, and you're not sitting in the back, you're driving a race car with a roof.” It was my first time driving,” he said. Wheels for the first time in a while.
But he added: “We don't know what's going to happen yet, but we have to feel a little bit about it now. Time will tell.”
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