Dr Helmut Marko has said there is “no room” for Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull after a fresh wave of rumours linking him with a return.
Vettel is searching for another team for the 2021 season after making it clear he would like to continue in Formula 1 once his Ferrari contract expires at the end of the 2020 campaign.
The four-time World Champion is seeing the best of his options disappear, though, with Mercedes ready to commit Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to new contracts and Renault announcing the return of Fernando Alonso for a third spell with the team starting in 2021.
Speculation over Vettel making a return of his own, to Red Bull, re-emerged after a report by Motorsport-Total.com claimed that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz had instructed Marko to set the wheels in motion about bringing the four-time World Champion back to partner Max Verstappen.
In a separate, subsequent report by fellow German outlet Auto Motor und Sport, Marko is quoted as saying that there are still no plans to re-sign Vettel.
“There is no place for Sebastian in our team,” Marko said.
“If I were him I’d take a break for a year & look at things from the outside.
“We have Albon and are also satisfied with him. Albon is half Thai and Red Bull is 51 % owned by Thais.”
One team who has seemingly changed their stance on Vettel is Racing Point, soon to be called Aston Martin.
Team boss Otmar Szafnauer had previously stated that Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll would remain in place for 2021 as both are bound by contract.
However, following the Austrian Grand Prix, Szafnauer did not categorically rule Vettel out of the equation for 2021.
“It’s flattering to have people make those kind of rumours around a four-time world champion and I think it was rumoured that Alonso was also interested as well,” Szafnauer told Sky Germany.
“It is flattering but right now what we’re focused on is racing well, having a good season and what we do next year there’s still time to decide.
“I’ve been friends with Sebastian since he was young so I’m always talking to him.
“We still have time to decide.”
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