When Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel parted ways, the ripple effect in the F1 paddock was evident. This is because to the driver market has been blown wide open, especially with such a prize catch up for grabs. The rumour mill churned like crazy and some suggested that Ferrari’s loss may be Mercedes’ gain.

In other words, the Silver Arrows could snap up Sebastian Vettel and field him alongside Lewis Hamilton. So far, neither Lewis Hamilton nor Valtteri Bottas have committed to the German team yet. In light of that, there is ample opportunity to fish Vettel from the pond. It also helps that Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are good friends away from the track

“I don’t want to make my corset too tight in terms of timing,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. “We want to start the season now and let both drivers drive freely. We want to see how George (Russell) presents himself, we want to make this decision in the course of the summer.”

Sebastian Vettel: German driver in a German team is PR heaven

Obviously, German fans hope that Sebastian Vettel could get a chance to gun for the world title in a Mercedes. In addition to that, seeing Vettel duel Lewis Hamilton on equal footing, is not something that anyone will want to pass up. Toto Wolff even admitted that he holds Vettel in high regard, and would be thrilled to see him in Mercedes.

“Sebastian is of course a great personality and, with four world championship titles, also one of the outstanding drivers of his generation,” the Silver Arrow team boss said. “He is an outsider candidate for a cockpit at Mercedes. But first and foremost, of course, we’re looking at our own Mercedes squad. But I wouldn’t say no to Sebastian in terms of talent and personality.”