Vettel will retire at the end of this season! Now the fun begins!
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wh...exit/10344534/
Option 1 - Nico Hulkenberg
Option 2 - Fernando Alonso
The rest
If not Alonso, then who? The list of big names who are going out of contract and might see Aston as an upgrade is very short.
Alex Albon is one, and he could be an interesting choice. He would certainly fit the bill of not making waves with his team-mate.
Mick Schumacher is also out of contract at Haas, and no doubt Vettel will be singing the praises of his protege. He'd also be great on the marketing side. But has the youngster really done enough to convince Aston folk? And would he be willing to cut his Ferrari ties?
Another potential candidate is Daniel Ricciardo, who in theory is still under contract to McLaren. However, he could either be dropped by McLaren or exit in a "controlled manner" that suits all parties should he be offered an Aston deal. That would open up a seat for Colton Herta or someone else that McLaren wants to promote.
Ricciardo ticks a lot of boxes, but will Aston really want to take someone who has struggled so much at McLaren, and shows few clear signs of digging himself out of the hole he is now in?
If Aston doesn't take Alonso, it won't want Piastri – Stroll would not want to take on a rival team's protege, train him up, and send him back to Enstone and former Aston boss Otmar Szafnauer.
There is one other rookie who could be an outside bet. Nyck de Vries is highly-rated in the paddock, and his recent FP1 outings with Williams and Mercedes have done him no harm.
He's on the list of Aston reserves, at races where Hulkenberg is not present, and thus there has been some contact. Aston also still has two FP1 rookie sessions to deploy this year, during which they can assess him.
The team uses Mercedes engines and that there are all sorts of connections between Stroll and Toto Wolff that would make such a deal painless. And it would be very easy for Mercedes to hand him to Aston with no ongoing contractual ties to the Brackley team, so he would belong to Stroll with no strings attached.