Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda team principal Franz Tost still believes that Sebastian Vettel has what it takes to win championships following his exit from Scuderia Ferrari.
Vettel is set to leave after six seasons with the Scuderia at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season, with McLaren F1 Team’s Carlos Sainz Jr. set to take the four time world champion’s place.
This created a domino effect, with Daniel Ricciardo signing a deal to drive for McLaren and fill Sainz’s seat, which has now left a seat at Renault DP World F1 Team, which Vettel has been rumored to potentially take.
While that seat is open, it is reported that Vettel is pursuing a seat at Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, and could retire from the sport if he doesn’t get a top seat.
Tost, who was Vettel’s boss at Scuderia Toro Rosso, believes that a driver with Vettel’s talent should be fighting in a top car.
“The end of something always means the start of something,” Tost told the official F1 website.
“It really depends on what seat he gets. To fight for a championship, Sebastian Vettel is a driver of the calibre who can do this.
“He needs to get a seat in the first three teams. Then he has a real chance to win races and another championship. I know Sebastian quite well, and that is for sure his main target.
“He’s only 32 years old, he’s a very high-skilled driver, and if he gets the correct package, [if] he’s sitting in a Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes, he’s still able to win races, and I’m also quite sure he can win another championship – it depends on which team he can drive for.”
Tost also stated that Vettel isn’t concerned about money, and is more concerned about racing in a competitive car next season.
“From the financial side, I don’t think he needs to continue racing, but drivers who have won championships, they don’t think so much of the money,” he said.
“Their motivation is to win races, to be successful. That’s the motivation, not the money.
“He is not a driver who just wants to be on the starting grid. If we’re doing a race now, he wants to win a race. It depends how the ingredients he will get together to achieve the goal.”
