Mercedes not ruling out Vettel bid

MERCEDES boss Toto Wolff said yesterday he would not rule out recruiting retired Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel to replace the departing Lewis Hamilton next season.

Vettel, 36, has said he was potentially in the market for a 2025 comeback and was talking to Wolff and others.

Hamilton, who is joining Ferrari, said on Thursday that the German driver would be an amazing option for the German manufacturer.

“Sebastian is someone that you can never discount,” Wolff said when asked whether he would be interested in the four-time world champion.

“I think his track record is phenomenal. And sometimes maybe taking a break is also good to re-evaluate what’s important for you and refine your motivation.”

While Wolff said he had a shortlist of drivers in mind, a decision was not imminent.

“At that stage, I think it’s much too early for us to commit to a driver, whether very young or whether very experienced ... the next few months will give us more clues.”

Hamilton’s early-season woes have been compounded by Mercedes confirming yesterday that the seven-time world champion had already lost one of his four allotted engines, meaning he could face grid penalties later in the season.

Hamilton, in his final season with the Silver Arrows before he joins Ferrari next year, retired from the Australian Grand Prix after a sudden power unit failure, which was later determined to be terminal.

“That one is for the bin,” Wolff told a press conference between the first practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

“It is a very highly unusual failure that we have a hardware failure that we didn’t see coming before. So yeah, we can’t reuse that (engine). And it depends how the season develops, whether we need one more or not. I can’t really say at this stage.”

Hamilton’s teammate George Russell crashed in Melbourne, signalling the first time both the team’s drivers did not finish a race in five years. | Reuters