Lance Stroll’s injury before the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season brought Aston Martin a controversial debate. The Canadian driver, who recovered just before the Bahrain GP, ​​would be replaced by Brazilian Felipe Drugovich. However, the team boss has revealed that Sebastian Vettel, who has been retired since the end of last year, is also being considered.

– Tempted (to call Vettel)? Yes, 100%. But we didn’t because we have a lot of respect for Sebastian and the (retirement) decision he made. I don’t think it would have been fair to ask. We wanted to respect the form he was in and we didn’t want to put him in a difficult position.”

Vettel stopped racing in Formula 1 precisely for Aston Martin. For the past five seasons, he has been among the top five drivers in the class in just three GPs. Now, with better car development, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll emerge as the second force of F1 2023.

The Spanish veteran took third place in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the first GPs of the season. Mike Krack revealed that the former driver sent a message to the team, congratulating them on winning the podium.

– We’ve been in touch. We made contact at New Years, but then Sebastian (Vettel) was also very Sebastian, congratulating us, very gentlemanly after our first podium in Bahrain. I always told him “it’s also your merit”, because he took us to the next level in the last two years. He made us progress in many areas, where we learned and progressed a lot. Definitely (played) its part in where we are today – he underlined.

There are few drivers above Vettel in Formula 1. The German won trophies in four seasons (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013). Additionally, he was a finalist in 2009, 2017, and 2018.

Aston Martin is preparing for the Australian GP, ​​which will be held this Sunday at 2 a.m. (Brasília time) in Melbourne. The group broadcasts on open television throughout Brazil.