Russell would welcome Vettel as a potential F1 teammate

Sebastian Vettel’s highly-anticipated return to top motorsport at Le Mans this year is now looking increasingly unlikely.

The retired quadruple world champion is still being linked with a potential return to Formula 1 for 2025, given Lewis Hamilton’s shock switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.

"I’m talking to Toto (Wolff)," Vettel, 36, is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport this week. "But I don’t know if that means I’m officially talking to Mercedes. We talk about a lot of things.

"I have a lot of ideas. I’m planning events. That’s why I’ve also spoken to a lot of other team bosses and not just about motorsport."

The German also told Sky Deutschland: "I have some projects and ideas together with Formula 1. We’ll see if anything comes of it or not."

Recently regarded as more likely than an F1 return for Vettel, who tested Porsche’s hypercar recently, is his participation at Le Mans in June.

But Motorsport Aktuell, another German magazine, thinks this is unlikely - with Porsche regarding using Vettel in its third entry too great a risk given his lack of experience in sports cars.

"The Porsche factory drivers have apparently already been informed that the third car will be driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy as originally planned," the publication said.

Instead, a brand ambassador role for Vettel is possible, ahead of a better preparation for Le Mans in 2025.

"Vettel himself completed two double stints" in the hypercar, Auto Motor und Sport explained, "and according to sources, it was clear that Vettel still has work to do on his consistency."

In Suzuka, George Russell said he would welcome Vettel as a potential F1 teammate after the four-time world champion failed to rule out a possible return.

"Yeah, I mean, Sebastian’s a great person and he’s a four-time world champion and for sure his personality is missed on the grid and I think it’s important that we have the best 20 drivers in the world all competing for race wins and championships. So, as I said before... I’m really happy and open to have anybody as my teammate, you know, whether it’s world champion, whether it’s a rookie, it doesn’t change how I go about my business. And yeah, as I said, we’ll welcome anybody."