by VALERIO BARRETTA
Mercedes seeks the post-Hamilton
Lewis' farewell Hamilton it was a punch in the face for Mercedes, who didn't even expect their star to move to Ferrari. Team principal Toto Wolff himself believed he was safe with the renewal signed last year (albeit with an exit clause), to the point that the Austrian had to remotely gather the team in Brackley to announce Sir Lewis' departure.
Now Wolff has to think about post-Hamilton. And it's not an easy choice. By his own admission, the #44's decision was poorly timed, as it came after the renewals of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, two profiles that the Austrian would have examined to replace the seven-time world champion if only they had been free. Now important names remain on the market but not very first choices as #16 and #4 would have been, such as Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who will be 44 years old in 2025. Then there would be a name that would represent yet another twist in this crazy start to the season: Sebastian Vettel. He too is no longer a youngster, but he is still six years younger than Alonso and two than Hamilton.
Jordan's words
Wolff confirmed that he was in contact with the German, but denied that the subject of the chats was work-related. Vettel, who admitted that he is thinking about returning to F1 (he also played on this theme in a recent post on Instagram) would also be Eddie Jordan's first choice: “Thinking about the short term, I would choose Sebastian if I were in Toto“, these are the words of the Irishman in the podcast Formula for Success.
“I think Vettel should be taken into consideration, he would be a good choice. It makes sense for Mercedes to have a German driver in the car“, he concluded. “We know these cars aren't as hard to drive as in my day when you needed a neck the size of a wine barrel. That's why Alonso is continuing and there are much older drivers“.
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