“I don’t think it would be conducive for our team to have two Alphas” – Red Bull boss Christian Horner had said about appointing Sebastian Vettel as Max Verstappen‘s teammate. Well, that was back in 2020 when Seb left Ferrari following a stint that yielded zero Championships for him. On the other hand, Vettel had attained four back-to-back F1 titles with Red Bull. Thus, it is quite evident that the Germans flourished as a part of the Milton-Keynes outfit. And right now, Helmut Marko’s team is struggling to keep its footing at the top step of the Championship Standings since McLaren is giving the team a good fight. So, bringing in Sebastian Vettel could be the key to unlocking an undisputed dominance in the Championship.

But Chief Advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that his team does not want Vettel to return from his retirement era. At only 35, Vettel had bowed out of F1 after spending two seasons with Aston Martin. Marko recalled, that at that time, Vettel had spoken about returning to Red Bull for a second time. While that request did not go through, the Austrian octagenarian has given a glowing recommendation for Seb’s beloved junior, Mick Schumacher, to Audi. The German manufacturer is currently preparing for a 2026 debut in F1 with full ownership of the existing Sauber team. As per Helmut Marko, Mick would be the best guy to race for Audi.

But Helmut Marko could have suggested Audi to take up Sebastian Vettel. The German legend driving for a massive German outfit would have been a match made in heaven. However, Marko did not take Seb’s name while putting out a recommendation for Audi. Does this mean he is thinking about recruiting Vettel for Red Bull? In response to this, Formula Passion quoted Marko saying, “It is no secret that Sebastian has asked one or two top teams about free cockpits.”

So, Marko has indicated that Vettel only wants to return to F1 if he gets a seat at one of the top teams. He also said, “While for Audi, I spoke mainly about the positive impact a German driver would have and I also mentioned Mick Schumacher. Apparently, this name has been forgotten by the press.” But the press is not going to pick Audi’s drivers for the team. So, what did a top official from the German team say about its recruitment choices?

Andreas Seidl mentioned two names as potential Audi racers

In 2022, Andreas Seidl left his McLaren job to lead Audi as its Team Principal. However, his stint came to an end in July of this year as Audi replaced him with Mattia Binotto. Before leaving the outfit, Seidl had given an interview where he gave his views on Audi’s recruitment choices. While Helmut Marko mentioned Mick, Seidl had two other racers in mind. He said, “We are talking with Valtteri [Bottas] and Zhou [Guanyu] and keep monitoring their performance.” Bottas and Zhou are current recruits of Sauber, the team that Audi will take over two years from now.

Meanwhile, the German outfit has already signed a deal with Nico Hulkenberg for a multi-year stint. So, Seidl had also mentioned that, with Nico in the bag, his team would be waiting to check out other options instead of rushing a deal for a second driver. He said, “We are out in the market, to have all options ready once we want to make a decision later in the year. Having Nico nailed down, there is no specific rush to fix the second seat. We prefer to monitor the performance of our drivers and the others we are looking for – and then make the best decision.”

Thus, Audi’s entry into F1 will surely shake up the entire grid. What remains to be seen is whether this shake-up will lead to the surge of Audi as one of the Championship contenders or not. Do you think the German outfit can beat Red Bull in one of its first few seasons?