Sebastian Vettel has been linked with a move to Aston Martin for the 2022 season, as he continues his career in Formula One. The German driver is set to leave Ferrari at the end of 2020 and is expected to take up an offer from Aston Martin as they look to replace the departing Le Mans winner Fernando Alonso.
Vettel’s first podium with Aston Martin came in June at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Aston Martin has said that Sebastian Vettel is dedicated to them and that they want him to compete for them in 2022.
Vettel, 34, has a contract option to stay with the club after this season, which is set to expire in the coming weeks.
Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Aston Martin racing team, said: “Sebastian has made an impression on us. We have every intention of working with him again next year and beyond.”
Stroll said that a decision on Vettel’s future will be made “imminently.”
Vettel has had a hit-or-miss season with Aston Martin, which he joined this year following a tumultuous last couple of seasons with Ferrari.
After a sluggish start, the German four-time world champion has alternated between great performances – such as a second place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and a third in Hungary before being banned for a technical violation – and less impressive ones.
If Vettel wants to remain in Formula One, he just has Aston Martin to choose from. All of the major league clubs have announced their lineups for the upcoming season.
Only his present drive, the second seat at Alfa Romeo, and two back markers at Haas remain unannounced.
Vettel’s increasing engagement in environmental issues, according to Stroll, “have no impact whatsoever on our great and continuing desire for him to continue to race for us in Formula One.”
The remarks came as the Canadian billionaire revealed a new F1 facility at the team’s Silverstone headquarters, which he estimates would cost between £150 and 200 million pounds.
He claimed the new facility, which would vastly increase the team’s present location opposite Silverstone Circuit, was necessary to achieve his goal of having the team compete for the World Championship within three to five years.
Aston Martin’s new plant at Silverstone, according to Stroll, is a “f1 investment.”
“It’s a big investment, almost 400,000 square feet,” Stroll added. “It demonstrates my faith in the team, as well as my goals and faith in Formula One. It’s a genuine F1 investment.”
A fresh new wind tunnel will be built on the new location. The existing factory, which has developed organically since Jordan Grand Prix, Aston Martin’s predecessor, joined Formula One in 1991, will be converted into a health center, restaurant, F1 simulator, and history center where visitors may be entertained.
The first phase of construction, which had been delayed by nearly two years due to the coronavirus epidemic, would be completed in 18 months, and the second in 36 months, according to Stroll.
Stroll, who took over the Aston Martin road car business last year before renaming his F1 team after it for this season, drew a comparison and a difference with McLaren’s Technology Centre, which opened in 2004 as the most recent purpose-built F1 facility.
Former team manager Ron Dennis commissioned renowned architect Sir Norman Foster to build the MTC as an architectural statement as well as an F1 headquarters.
“This is the polar opposite of what Ron Denis accomplished with Norman Foster,” remarked Stroll. This is a business, a factory, a campus, fit for purpose to match our DNA and culture, the goal of what it’s been created for, to be efficient and streamlined, to have everyone under one roof, taking into account the new financial regulations and where sport will go in the future.
“It accurately portrays our image, culture, and DNA.”
