Amidst the arrival of several rookies to the 2025 F1 grid, a coalition of season veterans remain on the grid. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg (the only active drivers older than 30) continue to perform at a high level.
Sebastian Vettel, the 4-time Champion formerly part of the ‘old guard’ – is now being linked with a potential return to Formula 1.
If the 37-year-old is indeed interested in a comeback, it is worth assessing if there are any plausible opportunities.
Vettel said to be looking at F1 return
Despite retiring at the end of 2022, Sebastian Vettel is younger than both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
These two World Champions, both adversaries of Vettel at various stages, will continue in F1 for the foreseeable future.
Alonso’s contract with Aston Martin still has two years left, whilst Hamilton agreed to a multi-year deal with Ferrari.
With this in mind, there is no reason why physical decline should hold back Vettel.
At 37 years old, the German is still several away from the stage where returning to F1 becomes out of the question.
Other drivers, from Schumacher to Alonso, have made comebacks at a similar age.
According to German outlet F1-Insider, Sebastian Vettel has not yet abandoned hopes of returning.
He is even reported to have been a consideration for Audi – before the team opted to sign Nico Hulkenberg’s services.
At various stages last year, Vettel was hesitantly mentioned as an option for Red Bull. However, Helmut Marko shot down that possibility.
In any case, while Vettel has made no secret of his passions beyond F1, this is not to say his interest in competing has dissipated.
These were his comments when he attended the 2023 Japanese GP:
“It hurts to see these cars go past. I knew it would be hard to eb here, but it is extremely hard…
“Obviously I love driving, and I think around this track I always felt very alive, and the passion felt – or feels – very, very alive.”
These comments certainly don’t guarantee that, more than twelve months later, Vettel still misses being in the paddock.
Still, the 37-year-old could yet have an F1 return on his radar.
Opportunities in the market?
Over the course of 2025, there are only a handful of teams that are likely to make driver changes.
Excluding Alpine and the two Red Bull teams, most of the field are likely to keep the same line-ups for the 2026 regulations.
Although Vettel could fit the driver profile Cadillac are looking for, linking the German to the US project would be nothing more than speculative at this stage.
When 2026 begins, however, the majority of drivers will be on expiring contracts. In this more unpredictable environment, Vettel would have better chances of finding opportunities.
As outlined previously, he is a few years younger than Alonso and Hamilton – two drivers with contracts until at least the end of 2026.
Therefore, should returning to F1 be a genuine desire, Vettel’s prospects should not be dismissed.
Of course, there are still no concrete indications that the German driver is actively working towards a return to the paddock – perhaps those will emerge in the coming months.
Regardless, at least for now, what lies ahead for Sebastian Vettel and his racing career remains in the dark.
