Red Bull does not blame Vettel for switching to Ferrari
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- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko has confirmed that there have been talks between Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing about a return in 2021. The 79-year-old Austrian felt it was better that there was no renewed collaboration between the two parties.
Already relatively early in 2020 Ferrari announced that it would send Vettel away. To his own disappointment, the Heppenheimer was not offered a new contract and could look for a new team. He knocked on the door of his old employer Red Bull Racing. There too, however, he got no answer.
No place at Red Bull
In September 2020 Vettel signed with Aston Martin, while Alexander Albon had already had a poor first half of the season. Regardless, Marko told Vettel there was no place for him. "We talked about it, but we had drivers under contract and then.... he had a very successful period with us, but it was good to have a breath of fresh air in the team."
According to Marko, the fact that Vettel left for Ferrari after the 2014 season played no part in the decision not to bring Vettel back into the fold. In fact, the Red Bull advisor says to La Gazzetta Dello Sport: "Vettel was not wrong to go to Maranello, we didn't have a competitive engine. He would have deserved to win at least one world title in Ferrari. The turning point was Hockenheim 2018, that mistake in the lead was the turning point in world championship," he says.
No Vettel, but Perez
In the end, it was Sergio Perez who came to drive for Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen in 2021. The Mexican had a difficult debut season, but managed to secure a contract extension.