Formula 1 has been a sport dominated by big personalities. But nothing lasts forever, not even in F1. When the likes of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost bowed out, in came the Schumachers and the Raikkonens. And when they left, we already had characters like Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Naturally, one would assume that the drivers we have today, like 2x champion Max Verstappen and Co, would be enough to fill the void left by Ricciardo and Vettel. But are they really?

4x champion, Sebastian Vettel hung up his racing helmet for good at the end of the 2022 season while Daniel Ricciardo seems to be on a sabbatical at Red Bull. That being said, we would be lying if we said we haven’t missed them. It’s been only one race weekend without the duo and the fans and pundits alike haven’t really let go of the glorious years of pure racing they had given us. But another uphill task awaits this sport in the form of finding men of tomorrow who can replace the heroes of yesterday.

Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz mulled over this very proposition. “We have two major shortcomings on the grid this year and we miss their presence. I’m talking about Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel. You know, I just felt their absence since Thursday, I still do. I miss them both.” [translated via Google Translate]

But he ended things on an optimistic note. “For F1 to remain popular, some names have to come forward and become big personalities to replace those we lost. I’m sure it will happen, it has always happened.”

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Even though we look to the future, rehashing the past is also an eventuality.

Sebastian Vettel inches closer to imminent F1 return

It’s not even been a full season of F1 racing without Vettel, and the fans already want him back. Even though this seems like a distant dream, the Bahrain GP weekend was one where dreams could’ve come true.

In Lance Stroll‘s speculated absence, Vettel was tipped to make a shock comeback. “I have had a couple of phone calls with Sebastian,” informed Aston Martin’s team principal Mike Krack to the media. This never materialized, however, don’t rule him out just yet.

Krack went on to reveal, “But this has been also last year, and this will continue in the future.”

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Will Sebastian Vettel make a triumphant F1 return with Aston Martin in the near future?