Only Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion, is quitting Formula 1 of his own volition.
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Six drivers competed in their last races with their teams last weekend as the 2022 Formula One season came to an end. However, when the teams reunite in Bahrain for the start of the new season, only Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly will be competing. They will wear different coloured overalls. Only Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion, is quitting Formula 1 of his own volition. The other three, Mick Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo, and Nicholas Latifi, have all stated a desire to carry on competing in Formula 1. There are only 20 seats remaining for the 2023 season, and none of the three have been able to find a team ready to grant them one. However, just because those athletes won’t be competing come the Bahrain Grand Prix’s opening round the following year doesn’t mean their F1 careers are over. Not only was Nico Hulkenberg given a remarkable return to the grid for 2023, four years after his final full-time season of racing in 2019, but Kevin Magnussen was also reinstated after a year spent wrecking sportscars around the United States. Which, if any, of the four players who left the field this off-season has the highest possibility of returning in the future?
Nicholas Latifi leaves Williams after three seasons with the organization, where he has competed since his grand prix debut in 2020. It’s fair to say that Latifi’s time in Formula 1 during that period was unspectacular, as he struggled to take minor points finishes for a team that was almost never off the back of the grid. Latifi’s three seasons saw him finish 21st, 17th, and 20th in the drivers’ standings, 20 points behind teammates George Russell and Alexander Albon. Despite the fact that Latifi’s father, the CEO of Canadian sponsor Sofina Foods, also happens to be a Formula 1 driver, Latifi’s track record may not make him an obvious choice for a second chance in the sport.
As unbelievable as it may have seemed less than two years ago, Daniel Ricciardo’s participation in Formula 1 is in serious doubt as the 2022 off-season approaches. With one full season left on his three-year contract, McLaren decided to cut their losses after two seasons of consistent underperformance at the team compared to teammate Lando Norris. Guenther Steiner, the head of the Haas team, acknowledged that he had called Daniel Ricciardo to measure his early interest in maybe racing with them next season, but it appears that Ricciardo did not answer. Ricciardo looks prepared to wait out a season in 2023 and return to Red Bull to perform third driver responsibilities while hoping an opportunity opens up for a return to a racing seat next year rather than grabbing any seat available merely to remain on the grid. What driver will a team get if they do decide to give Ricciardo a drive in the upcoming season? Will it be the Ricciardo who competed head-to-head with Max Verstappen while the two were at Red Bull and claimed eight grand prix victories, including the Italian Grand Prix last year with McLaren? Or will it be the Ricciardo who, despite his best efforts over the past two seasons, simply was unable to find a way to improve his lack of pace?
Mick Schumacher has the most time to try and reclaim a spot on the Formula 1 grid because he is the youngest and least experienced driver on this list. Schumacher was forced into Formula 1 with Haas after winning the Formula 2 championship in 2020 and relegated to the back of the grid for a year while the team focused all of its development efforts on the 2022 car. By the start of the season, Haas had vaulted from the rear of the pack into the running for points. However, Kevin Magnussen was securing all of the team’s top ten finishes while Michael Schumacher struggled to make the most of his vehicle, suffering serious accidents in Jeddah and Monaco. Haas chose the more seasoned Nico Hulkenberg to replace him for 2023 despite the fact that he had glimpses of real potential in the middle of the season at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.
Schumacher is adamant that this will not be his final appearance in the Formula 1. The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, is just one of his many admirers in the paddock. The team would sit down with Schumacher and discuss his options in the off-season to determine what would be best for his future, according to Mattia Binotto, who is still officially associated with Ferrari. He also has the advantage of having a well-known last name, which might attract teams in the future.
Few Formula 1 drivers ever have the luxury of being able to end their careers on their own terms, but at the age of 35, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel decided to call it quits on his racing career, which will go down in Formula 1 history as one of the most successful ever. However, in Formula 1, drivers frequently continue to compete after they retire. After Felipe Massa retired at the conclusion of 2016, Williams pulled him back to lead the team through 2017 when Valtteri Bottas was snatched up by Mercedes as a result of Nico Rosberg’s retirement. Fernando Alonso left Formula One at the end of 2018 to pursue the Triple Crown and win the Le Mans before coming back just before his 40th birthday. Alonso was able to participate in the Indy 500 in 2017 thanks to a cameo appearance by Jenson Button in Monaco after Button retired from the sport at the end of 2016.
Lewis Hamilton, a longtime adversary and close friend of Sebastian Vettel, is confident that Vettel will eventually return to the world championship. Vettel has openly said that he is interested in maybe competing in one-off races in series outside of Formula 1. So, is it still possible that Vettel will eventually win 300 Grands Prix?
