Verstappen would welcome Vettel having a role at Red Bull
SPIELBERG, Austria :Max Verstappen said he would welcome fellow four-times Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel back to Red Bull after the German spoke of possibly succeeding consultant Helmut Marko at the team.
Austrian Marko, 82 and a former racer who was blinded in one eye after a stone pierced his visor during the 1972 French Grand Prix in Clermont-Ferrand, has a contract until the end of next year.
Vettel, 37, won consecutive titles with Red Bull from 2010-13 and retired in 2022 after stints at Ferrari and Aston Martin.
"It's more than normal that someone that has achieved so much with Red Bull, has been brought up by Red Bull (should return)," Verstappen told reporters at the Austrian Grand Prix on Thursday when asked for his thoughts.
"In a sense there's always a spot available, right?
"I think also Seb always kept a really good relationship with Helmut anyway, even when he left. I didn't know that of course they were talking but I'm sure that there's always a space for Seb in any kind of form."
Marko was a close confidant of the team's late Austrian owner Dietrich Mateschitz, serving as his trusted representative in the paddock as well as also taking charge of the young driver programme.
During Vettel's era the outspoken advisor was part of a leading trio with principal Christian Horner and technical ace Adrian Newey, who is now at Aston Martin.
"We're in contact about this, though maybe not so intensively or in-depth yet, but it's possible," Vettel told Austria's ORF television recently.
"He's already said a few times that he'd stop, but he's still here, and I wish him all the best so that he stays around for a very long time."
Marko told Austria's Kleine Zeitung on Wednesday that Vettel was following everything very closely.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
28 minutes ago
- CNA
Russell suggests Mercedes are still after Verstappen
SPIELBERG, Austria :George Russell has suggested his contract renewal talks with Mercedes are being held up because the team are still keen to sign Formula One champion Max Verstappen. The 27-year-old Briton, winner in Canada two weeks ago, is out of contract at the end of the season while four-times champion Verstappen has a deal with Red Bull until 2028, subject to get-out clauses. Russell told Sky Sports television at the Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes, constructors' champions eight years in a row from 2014-2021 and currently second to McLaren, wanted to return to the top. "If you're going to be back on top you need to make sure you've got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that's what Mercedes are chasing," he said. "So, it's only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I'm performing as I'm doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula One team." Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made his interest in Verstappen clear last year as he sought a replacement for seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton. In the end 18-year-old Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was handed the opportunity and has been setting a string of age records, drawing strong support from fans. Verstappen and Russell have had a series of headline clashes on and off the track over the past 12 months, with Mercedes likely to have concerns about pairing them together should the opportunity arise. Russell told reporters separately that team boss Toto Wolff has assured him he was performing as well as anybody on the starting grid. "I think there's only one driver that you can debate in terms of performance - these are his words, these are not my words - so that's why I have no concern about the future," he said. "But there's two seats at every team and I guess he needs to think, who are those two drivers going to be for those two seats, and I guess that's what the delay is." Verstappen, appearing in the main FIA press conference, was reluctant to talk about his future when asked if he would be driving for Red Bull next year. "Do you want me to repeat what I said last year?... it's not really on my mind. Just driving well, trying to push the performance, and then we focus on next year."
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Kipyegon falls well short in bid for first sub-four-minute mile
PARIS -Faith Kipyegon fell short in her attempt to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes on Thursday when she clocked 4:06.42 in a Nike "Breaking4" project that, though faster than her own world record, will not be ratified. The 31-year-old triple world and Olympic 1,500 metres champion had needed to take more than seven seconds off her own 2023 world record of 4:07.64 but, despite a series of aids, managed just over one second. She was helped by innovative new kit, super-spikes and, crucially, a phalanx of mostly male pacers who blocked the wind on the four and a bit laps of the Stade Charlety track where she set her 1,500m world record last year. She was about on course at halfway but could then not keep up with the coloured pacing lights inside the track and drifted on the final lap. Those pacers meant, just as with compatriot Eliud Kipchoge's sub-two-hour marathon in 2019, that the new mark will not be recognised as a world record.
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Swiatek weathers rain break with puzzles to reach semis, top seed Pegula also advances
BAD HOMBURG, Germany :Fourth seed Iga Swiatek solved crossword puzzles during an hour-long rain interruption on Thursday but kept her focus to earn a 6-4 7-6(5) victory over Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova and reach the Bad Homburg Open semi-finals. The Pole, who is playing her only grasscourt tournament in the run-up to Wimbledon which starts next week, struggled at times and had 37 unforced errors against Alexandrova before setting up a semi-final against second-seed Jasmine Paolini. "I think today was all about adjusting to the conditions because it was super windy," Swiatek said. "On one hand to be intense on the other hand being safe." "Ekaterina is a tough opponent. I have lost against her before. She can play amazing tennis and her flat shots really fit the grass so I am happy I am through." She won the first set after breaking Alexandrova twice but the match was interrupted midway through the second set with rain starting to fall. Swiatek said she kept focused by solving crossword puzzles during the break and it seemed to work as she held serve throughout the second set to clinch the tiebreak and face Paolini next. Swiatek currently leads Paolini in their head-to-head 4-0. The Italian, a Wimbledon finalist last year, recorded her fourth win over Beatriz Haddad Maia in as many meetings with a 7-5 7-5 victory. It was also her first win over the Brazilian in straight sets as the Italian reached her fourth semi-final of the season. Top-seed Jessica Pegula joined her in the last four after needing three sets to edge past fellow American and fifth-seed Emma Navarro 6-4 1-6 6-3. Pegula will face the winner of the last quarter-final between Russian third seed Mirra Andreeva and Czech Linda Noskova.
