SAKHIR, Bahrain — Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack would not rule out the possibility of Sebastian Vettel making a remarkable comeback to replace the injured Lance Stroll at the opening race of the Formula One season in Bahrain next week, but said their favoured plan was still to have Stroll in the car.
Vettel retired from F1 at the final race of 2022, just over three months ago, and was replaced by two-time champion Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin over the winter.
Alonso’s teammate Stroll injured his wrist in a training accident last week and was forced to miss the three days of preseason testing this week. No decision has been made yet on him returning for the first race, which will take place on March 5.
Aston Martin called on reserve driver Felipe Drugovich to drive the team’s new AMR23 car on Thursday morning and Saturday morning, but Krack said the team had more than one Plan B if Stroll is not fit to race.
“The Plan B we have to decide, we have some Plan Bs, we have to decide the Plan B when the Plan A is done,” he said.
During the final day of preseason testing on Saturday, rumours started to circulate that four-time champion Vettel had contacted Aston Martin about making a return.
Asked if Vettel could be an option if Stroll is ruled out, Krack added: “The Plan B we said already, we will speak about it next week.”
When asked if he had talked to Seb since Stroll’s accident, Krack said: “No no, I have had a couple of phone calls with Sebastian, but this has also been last year and this will continue in the future.”
Asked if Vettel had shown interest in driving, Krack added: “I will not tell you.”
Journalists continued to ask Krack about a Vettel return, to which he said: “But don’t forget one thing, he had a very, very thorough plan in mind for his retirement.
“And I think this is also something that you have to respect. Let’s see what’s happening.”