Szafnauer: No talks with Vettel about 2021 Aston Martin F1 seat

Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer says he has not spoken to Sebastian Vettel about the prospect of driving for the Aston Martin Formula 1 team in 2021.

Vettel’s future has been the topic of much speculation since Ferrari confirmed last month the four-time world champion will leave the team at the end of the year once his contract expires.

The German has since found himself linked with Mercedes, Renault and the new Aston Martin project when the British sportscar maker returns to the F1 grid next season as a rebrand of the Racing Point outfit.

Szafnauer has made it clear the team is not in the market for a “headline” name driver when it morphs into Aston Martin next year, and he confirmed no discussions have taken place with Vettel.

“Seb and I have been friends for a long time, even before he was a Formula 1 driver I knew him, and ironically he hasn’t called me, so I haven’t had the conversation,” Szafnauer told the F1 Nation podcast.

“I can’t speak for Seb but we all know what a great job he’s done. He won early on in the Toro Rosso which was fantastic, and four world championships.

“He’s had some great races and I think at his relatively young age of 33 he still has some good years left in him. But that’s not for me to say.”

Sergio Perez is on a multi-year deal with the Silverstone-based outfit, while Lance Stroll’s seat is also understood to be secure for the foreseeable future given his father Lawrence owns the team.

And Szafnauer stressed Racing Point is happy with its current line-up and has no plans to make any changes for 2021.

“We’re really happy with our driver line-up and they're signed up as well, they work well together,” he said.

“We’ve got Checo [Perez], who, on a Sunday is as good as anyone. He’s very calculated, very clever, good racer, looks after his tyres.

“Lance is much younger than Sergio and learning very quickly, but very, very fast. He has great starts, and when he’s in the thick of it, can race really well. And he's learning.

“I think eventually Lance will overtake Sergio and having that combination of young and experience is perfect for us.”