No plan B for Vettel contract

“Whether he wants to drive or not is his decision,” Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack answered a question about how things are going with Sebastian Vettel. The four-time world champion has the sole right to decide his future. It remains to be seen whether he will build full-time bee hotels next year or drive a Formula 1 car for another year.

Aston Martin would like to link Sebastian Vettel to the traditional British racing team in the long run. “Vettel is our Plan A,” team boss Mike Krack said confidently in an interview with Sport Bild. There is happiness not only for the coming 2023 season, but also for the long term.

Vettel and Aston Martin: Plan A or Plan V?

The coming weeks or months will show whether Sebastian Vettel will take part in Aston Martin’s Plan A or whether he will fulfill his own Plan V (Vettel). However, the 34-year-old shouldn’t take too long to decide: “If it takes too long, of course we’ll be in trouble at a certain point,” Krack says. Formula 1’s silly season is already in full swing.

Aston Martin is currently busy solving more current, other problems. Luxembourg has not set a specific deadline for Vettel to sign the contract. The update in Barcelona was the first step in the right direction. The 50-year-old said, “I want to introduce Sebastian to one more step and then we can talk to each other. Maybe he feels a little more desire to continue.”

Vettel at Aston Martin: Started badly, dropped a lot

Originally, Sebastian Vettel had planned to drive to victory. Rather difficult with this year’s Aston Martin. After nine races, the British luxury carmaker has only 16 points. They are in eighth place in the constructors’ championship, just one point ahead of Haas. Alphatauri’s distance placed in front of it? Eleven counters.

Things don’t necessarily look pink in the drivers position. Heppenheimer had only started his 2022 Formula 1 season at the Australian GP, ​​after being represented by his compatriot Nico Hulkenberg in the first two Grands Prix due to the coronavirus. From bad to worse: A spin means the end for Sebastian Vettel after just 22 laps.

This was followed by eighth place in Imola, some races without points and retirement, tenth place in Monaco and the best result ever in Baku with sixth place. There are 13 points total for former series winner Vettel.

Vettel: Not what I’m here for

The German’s demands are different: “I’m all about winning. As a team – it’s no secret – we want to be on top. But we are at the bottom now,” admitted Vettel, disappointed after Imola. Under the motto of “we climb together”, the team under boss Lawrence Stroll wants to rise to the top and announced in 2021 that they want to be world champions in three to five years. Standing in the second year: Still a lot to climb.

Before the season, Sebastian Vettel completely put to rest speculations about his further career: “The future will depend on whether we can win or not.” Unless Aston Martin makes a big leap in development with the AMR22 in the near future, this appears to be a difficult undertaking in the short term.

Crack: Facts Instead of Hope

The gap is huge for Red Bull and Ferrari, but team boss Krack is optimistic: “The gap in the midfield between the racing teams is very small, and we are working hard to move forward.”

“There’s no use holding contract negotiations based on hope. We have to make up the facts and then we’ll talk,” Krack said. The team has analyzed Canada and is now preparing intensively for Silverstone. After two poorly timed safety car stages, Lance Stroll could not get more than a point in his home race.