Vettel, Alonso eye ’pink Mercedes’ for 2021

Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are both in the running to drive for the new Aston Martin works team from 2021.

That is the claim of La Gazzetta dello Sport, even though the earlier rumour was that the former world champions were in fact vying for a Renault seat.

However, it is now rumoured that Vettel, who will leave Ferrari at the end of 2020, and Alonso, currently on sabbatical, could in fact drive a pink car next year.

The Silverstone based team’s owner Lawrence Stroll has taken over Aston Martin and will rebrand Racing Point from 2021. Stroll’s son Lance and Sergio Perez are both firmly under contract for next year.

Pedro de la Rosa, who knows Alonso well from his days at McLaren and Ferrari, praised Racing Point’s decision to base its 2020 car on last year’s Mercedes.

"They took the regulations and said ’Let’s see what we can do with them’ and what we got was that pink Mercedes," he told Marca sports newspaper.

"Other teams could have done it. I know that the same (Mercedes) contract was offered to others and they declined, because they think it means the maximum is second place.

"But I think second place is something many people in Formula 1 would want at the moment," de la Rosa added.