"No place for Vettel" at Red Bull - Marko

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has told Sebastian Vettel he can forget a return to the team that made him a four-time Formula 1 champion.

It is now looking increasingly likely there will be no place on the grid in 2021 for the 33-year-old German.

McLaren and Renault, both of whom were previously linked with Vettel, have finalised their driver line-ups for 2021, whilst Mercedes has said it is happy with current pairing Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

It has left Red Bull as the latest team to be mooted as a possible destination, but Marko has now closed the door on a potential reunion with Vettel.

"We have no place for Vettel," Marko told Auto Motor und Sport. "We have Albon and we are happy with him. Albon is half Thai and Red Bull is 51 per cent Thai."

Marko added that were he in Vettel's shoes, he would take time away from the sport.

He added: "I would take a year off and look at it from an outside perspective, but maybe he likes the life with the family so much that he leaves completely."

In conversation with Servus TV, Vettel hinted that should he leave the F1 paddock, it would not be a temporary move.

"If you make the decision to close the door, you shouldn't do it so that you can hope to open it again sometime," said the Ferrari driver. "You have to be prepared to leave the door closed."

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