Sebastian Vettel is without a driving seat for next season and I don't think this will be resolved straight away either. This is a tricky one to navigate for Vettel and Mercedes. I say Mercedes as I do believe he will join them next year. Toto Wolff the team principal has said it isn't out of the question but they need to first look at their options.
Mercedes have their own driver academy and have been nurturing the likes of George Russelle (Williams) and Esteban Ocon (Renault) for some time. Are they in the same category as 4 time World Champion Vettel? Clearly they aren't and Vettel being 34 next year has at least one or two seasons left in him. Racing is about winning and Mercedes having the opportunity to sign one of the best have to take it. next season is going to have many changes trying to even the playing field so having the best behind the wheel possibly will be more crucial than ever.
I do believe Vettel will go to Mercedes or retire as driving for a weaker team is not in his makeup. In order to challenge for a world title you need to have the right tools and to be frank none of the other teams have the equipment required to achieve this.
We saw what happened when McLaren took two of the main drivers with Senna and Prost many years ago. They started off fine and the team fell apart splitting into a bitter rivalry. I do believe this is different though as firstly both drivers are much older and Hamilton sees it as a new type of challenge. His biggest foe of the last decade would be using the same car as himself and it would force him to be even more competitive. Christian Horner from Red Bull said it would create headaches within the team, but I think the headaches would be for all the other teams.
If we can't have close racing on the track due to the imbalance between the teams at least we will get close racing again. I see this as a positive move if this does pan out the way it could. The experience alone between Hamilton and Vettel who have 10 World Championship titles between them would only bring more success to Mercedes.
The other main thing that we cannot rule out is the German connection. Mercedes and Vettel as a combination would surely be what the German manufacturer would ideally want. Bottas is a Fin and in his last season of contract,Russelle is English like Hamilton and Ocon is French. Vettel could be the last opportunity for Mercedes to have a German behind the wheel for some time. This I believe is more important right now and will be the reason why Vettel gets the nod. Toto Wolff never said "No" outright and tells me maybe it is not his decision to make as this is different from all the other things he resides over.Telling a German company that they can't have a German driver is another thing entirely.
Vettel to retire next season is still in the balance but i believe he has at least 1 season left in him and that is what Mercedes will offer him. If he does well and possibly wins the Championship or comes close then he will have one more after that. Mercedes can stall the likes of Ocon or Russelle for one or two seasons as their are going to be a host of new drivers on the scene.
