Vettel a potential bargaining chip in Mercedes' Hamilton talks - Coulthard

Sebastian Vettel could be a "serious option" for Mercedes as part of the Formula 1 team's negotiating tactics with Lewis Hamilton.

That is a suggestion proposed by David Coulthard as the 13-time F1 grand prix winner has mused over the four-time champion's future options.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has so far refused to knock back speculation linking Mercedes with Vettel since it was announced the 32-year-old would be leaving Ferrari at the end of the season.

Addressing the issue on the F1Nation podcast, Coulthard said: "Only Sebastian knows whether he has already decided he is retiring, or he is being courted by Mercedes as a serious option in the negotiation with Lewis.

"Because as much as they love Lewis, Mercedes and Toto [Wolff], they’re business people, they’re not charities. It’s not, ‘Oh Lewis, we love you so much, here’s a blank cheque, write the number in and we’ll work out how we manage to pay you that.’

"They’ll want to pay him the minimum they can to allow more money to invest in their business, and he [Hamilton], of course, will want the maximum.

"Now money is only one part of the negotiation. There will be other things."

While Vettel has also been linked with a move to Renault, Coulthard has also thrown into the mix the prospect of a switch to Aston Martin, the name returning to F1 next season as it morphs out of Racing Point.

"Does he go to Aston Martin and take a shareholding and take another phase of his career, which could be an option, could be something a bit leftfield," added Coulthard.

“There are so many interesting things that could come into play, and one of them could well be [that] Lawrence Stroll’s got big designs of future success for Aston Martin.

"At this stage of his career, he could well be a brilliant asset in a team like that, in terms of knowledge and experience of Red Bull, knowledge and experience of Ferrari.”

Team principal Otmar Szafnauer did, however, recently reveal Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll would again be the driver pairing for 2021.

To accommodate Vettel, Stroll would either have to axe Perez, who has a contract through to 2022 and brings him with a significant amount of sponsorship from his plethora of Mexican backers, or ask his son to step aside.

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