Recently, McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown opened up on Carlos Sainz’s 2021 move to Ferrari. Interestingly, he revealed that he expected the Spaniard’s departure from the Woking squad. According to the American, there were plenty of discussions underway over the winter. However, he also declared that Sebastian Vettel, was never the top priority to replace the Spaniard.
The McLaren team has been at the epicentre of the driver market discussion, especially in the wake of Vettel’s Ferrari exit. So, the Maranello outfit promptly roped in Sainz to fill in his shoes for 2021, with Daniel Ricciardo taking Sainz’ own seat.
Since the Carlos Sainz-Ferrari negotiations began early, McLaren also triggered its own talks with Daniel Ricciardo. In other words, Sebastian Vettel was completely snubbed and has to search elsewhere.
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“Obviously Seb’s an awesome driver and a four-time champion,” Brown said. “But I think we were pretty far down the path in the off-season and knew we would either land with Daniel or Carlos.”
“We never really entertained anyone beyond that, and especially with Seb’s late breaking news – we were pretty far down the path at that point.”
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What next for Sebastian Vettel in Formula One?
Vettel’s options for next season are quickly drying up, though Renault does have a vacant seat. However, Zak Brown believes that the German may choose to retire instead of moving to a midfield team.
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“Clearly it’s not a nice environment inside the Ferrari garage at the moment. With the drivers and management, it seems to not be a happy family at the moment,” he stated. “Which I think is going to make for some pretty exciting racing in 2020. I think we saw in Brazil the fireworks that were inevitable and building up... I’m anticipating more of that this year.
“It really depends, if Seb looks around, it doesn’t look like there’s a Mercedes or Red Bull opportunity for him. There’s not a McLaren opportunity for him, clearly not at Ferrari, so the next best is Renault.
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