Reuters
Formula One F1 – Hungarian Grand Prix – Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary – August 1, 2021 Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates with team members after finishing second Pool via REUTERS/Florion Goga
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Hungarian Grand Prix – Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary – August 1, 2021 Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates with team members after finishing second Pool via REUTERS/Florion Goga
Sebastian Vettel is proving to be an integral part of the Aston Martin Racing team, who are entirely relying on the German’s championship-winning experience in Formula 1. Of course, it was a fairly straightforward recruitment for the British outfit late-last season, as Vettel had nowhere else to go after exiting Ferrari.
However, while a lot anticipated the contract extension announcement to arrive early in 2021, the reality had a different story to offer, as the actual announcement arrived between the Italian GP and the Russian GP, which indeed raised a few concerns.
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Formula One F1 – Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria – July 4, 2021 Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel before the race Pool via REUTERS/Christian Bruna
Aston Martin did affirm that Vettel’s contract had the option of extending his 1-year contract by an extra year. And now that they’ve utilized this opportunity, the question is, will Vettel be staying with Aston Martin beyond 2022?
Well, Aston Martin’s team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, is hoping that the talks will be much more straightforward in 2022 and that the management and Vettel can work things out more efficiently to complete the contract as early as possible.
What did the Aston Martin boss say?
As reported by GP Fans, Otmar revealed that he would start thinking about this during the winter break post-F1 2021 season. “I haven’t even considered it. We’ve just got through this but good question, let me ponder over that over Christmas,” he said.
“We usually don’t disclose, out of respect for Seb, the details of his contract and the things we negotiated. We like Seb, he likes us, and let’s see what happens. Like I said, even over Christmas we could contemplate that stuff. Let’s have a good year in 2022 and then decide.”
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy – April 16, 2021 Aston Martin team principal and chief executive officer Otmar Szafnauer during the press conference FIA/Handout via REUTERS
Asked whether it would be beneficial to sign Vettel earlier in 2022, Otmar acknowledged, “We’ll do that earlier next year. It will help you guys, too. Less questions.”
Overall, Vettel and Aston Martin have looked quite comfortable working together so far, with the former even starting to unlock his older on-track form.
So, it would be interesting to see how the duo manage to work their contract out earlier next year. But, will Aston Martin succeed in latching onto the four-time world champion? Only time will tell.
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