Mercedes interest in Vettel 'not lip service'

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that it would be wrong not to contemplate signing Sebastian Vettel to partner Lewis Hamilton for the 2021 Formula 1 season.

It's not often that a four-time champion is left searching for a drive, and Wolff has opened the door to a sensational move for the German.

"First of all, it's not lip service," Wolff told a media conference call. "We owe it to a four-time world champion not to come out and say straight away 'no'. You need to think about it."

Wolff was critical of McLaren and Ferrari for announcing their driver line-ups for '21 before the '20 season had even begun, saying you never know what a driver will decide to do.

He added: "On the other side we have a fantastic line-up, and I'm very happy with both our pilots, and George, but you never know. One of them may decide he doesn't want to go racing any more and suddenly you have a vacant spot.

"This is why I don't want to come out in June and say 'no chance Sebastian is not racing for us'.

"I wouldn't do it to him as a driver to be that blunt, and on the other side I've seen black swans appearing when nobody expected - remember Nico Rosberg.

"In that respect, we are just keeping our options open, but of course, concentrating our discussion on our current drivers."

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