Vettel to leave Ferrari at the end of the season - where to next?

[Nitrodaze]

Although I'd like to see Vettel stay in the sport, I think that McLaren made the right choice. A younger, less mistake prone Ricciardo, who'd already dusted up Seb when they both raced for Red Bull, was probably an easy pick for McLaren. Zak Brown seemed to indicate that in an interview that he did with Sky Sports the other day. Plus he said that the deal with Ricciardo was already in place by the time Ferrari and Vettel parted ways. If Carlos left, Dan was already in line - not that F1 deals can't disappear.

I totally agree about Renault. Sad how they haven't been able to rebuild. IMO, they could have injected money into Lotus (taken a major ownership stake) and wound up with the same or better results than they're getting now. I think that Renault, Williams and Haas are all in need of management/team principle changes... especially Renault and Williams. But Claire is safe because of daddy. Even more so than Renault, it's really sad how that team has collapsed. Not really a Williams fan, but I'd hate to see them fold.

I think Zak is saving face on Vettel. I think they approached him with ridiculous money and Vettel told Mclaren to take a hike. The fact of the matter is that the FIA and The F1 management [liberty] are discussing capping driver's wages as part of the cost cap discussions. My guess is that Mclaren applied that principle to their talk with Vettel and it did not come out well.

Besides, Ricciado would not have accepted the Mclaren deal until he was sure he was discounted from the Ferrari seat. I think Ricciado was happy to take a pay cut to get the hell out of Renault.

The way the season is going, some teams may fold by the end of the year. The car industry appears to be hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Which may be a factor in the Ferrari-Vettel split and why a cheaper Sainz was a good option for Ferrari at this point in time. For this reason alone, a Renault-Vettel partnership is highly unlikely.

If Renault stays in the sport for the 2021 season, my guess is that they may run two young drivers to keep their cost down to manageable levels. We may see a new face in F1 from the F2 brigade of drivers. Or the return of Hulkenburg.