Vettel’s Aston Martin deal in danger

The Silly Season of Formula 1 is in full swing. Most recently, the Italian Gazzetta dello Sport published a sensation. On Thursday morning it reported: Sebastian Vettel’s deal with Aston Martin is done. Only the corona infection of Racing Point driver Sergio Perez prevented an official announcement.

READ MORE: LAST CHANCE FOR ALBON?

The venerable Gazzetta even seems to know details: Vettel is said to have signed for three years and to collect 15 million euros per season. In addition, he will be an ambassador for the car manufacturer Aston Martin.

One thing is clear: speculation to this effect is obvious. Vettel and team boss Otmar Szafnauer got into Szafnauer’s Ferrari together in the evening after the GP in Silverstone. Neither party has ever denied interest. On the contrary. Recently even Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff Vettel had talked into the Aston Martin (still Racing Point). “I know that there are talks between Seb and Racing Point. Replacing Perez is not an easy decision, but Germany is the second most important market for Aston Martin. The deal with Vettel would be great for them.”

But consciously or unconsciously: Wolff, himself a shareholder in the car manufacturer Aston Martin, has also addressed the problem here: Sergio Perez. F1-Insider.com learned: His Mexican sponsors around the telecommunication company Telmex are said to have added a considerable amount of sponsor money to keep Vettel away. Racing Point owner Lawrence Stroll has therefore asked for time to think it over. The ball is in the team’s court. Weeks ago, Perez hinted: “It’s up to my sponsors whether I can stay or not.”

How much is Vettel worth to Aston Martin

Mexican millions now bring a whole new dynamic to the contract poker between Vettel and Aston Martin. Instead of spending millions on Vettel, the team could now earn even more with Perez. The question remains: how much is Vettel really worth to Aston Martin?

Team boss Otmar Szafnauer had already denied the existence of a clause that would have allowed Racing Point to fire Perez on 31 July, as reported by BILD, last weekend.

But: For Vettel, a failure of the negotiations with Aston Martin would not be the end of the world. The German emphasized until the very end that he could also imagine a career end or a sabbatical. His dream team for 2021 has always been Red Bull. He confirmed this openly even in a press conference in Spielberg. But at his former world championship team, Alex Albon stands in his way. At least for now.

Ralf Bach and Bianca Garloff

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Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)