26/02/2023
NEWS STORY
With continued uncertainty over Lance Stroll's fitness, Aston Martin could turn to Sebastian Vettel as season opener looms.
Ever since announcing that Stroll would not be able to attend pre-season testing after injuring himself in a cycling accident, Aston Martin have effectively put the screens up, refusing to give further insight into the exact cause of his accident or the extent of his injury.
This, as ever, has led to intense speculation, in both the paddock and on social media.
With the season opener just a week away, and the AMR23 looking extremely competitive in testing, thoughts understandably turn to who might partner Fernando Alonso in Bahrain.
While Felipe Drugovich has replaced Stroll in testing this week, many have wondered whether Aston Martin might call on the services of its former driver who retired in November.
"The Plan B we have to decide," team boss Mike Krack told the media as testing came to a close, "we have some Plan Bs, we have to decide the Plan B when the Plan A is done."
The paddock, a hotbed of speculation at the best of times, was hit by rumours on Saturday morning that three-time champion Vettel had offered his service to the team.
"The Plan B we said already," insisted Krack, when asked if this was true, "we will speak about it next week."
Pushed on whether Vettel had been in contact with the team, he responded: I will not tell you. But don't forget one thing, he had a very, very thorough plan in mind for his retirement. I think this is something that you have to respect. Let's see what's happening."
Vettel's final race was the subject of an unusually emotional outpouring from the sport, which said Danke Seb following his 16 seasons in F1, in which he won 53 grands prix from 299 starts.
If nothing else, perhaps the lure of rounding that up to 300 starts might prove too tempting for the German, while fans salivate at the thought of the four-time champ partnering Alonso.
While not giving any further information on his teammate's progress, Alonso claimed that his absence has "hurt" the team.
"It hurts a lot," he said. "We miss him because some of my comments and feelings with the car, we never know if it's just me in a new team and a new car.
"Was it just maybe an Aston Martin thing that Lance could spot it?" he added. "Brake pedal feeling, power steering, I don't know if these are a legacy things with the team or new in this car.
"So we cannot do it without him. So I hope he can come back very soon."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Bahrain, here.