Van der Garde: "At Racing Point, Vettel can build a team around him"

At the beginning of July the F1 season will finally start in Austria. However, we already know that there are several drivers who will not drive for the same team after 2020. Sebastian Vettel will leave Ferrari and Carlos Sainz will leave McLaren to fill the empty spot at Ferrari. Giedo van der Garde did not expect that the drivers market would go so fast.

"Yes, it was a bit surprising," Van der Garde told Motorsport.com. That Vettel would leave Ferrari was the first thing that was surprising, according to the Dutchman. "I really expected him to stay. But knowing Seb he really is an emotional person. It's important for him to be in a team where everyone trusts each other".

Racing Point is more likely

The options for Vettel are becoming less and less and also Mercedes seems far away for the German driver. "I don't see a switch to Mercedes happening. As long as Lewis (Hamilton) is still there, Valtteri Bottas will be enough as a team mate". Van der Garde also expects Red Bull Racing to have no place either, so Vettel will have to go to midfield for a seat in 2021.

"I see Vettel getting into Racing Point with Stroll much sooner. There he can really start building a team with good people around him. For Vettel it's important that he really gets the feeling from the team that he's number one. At Aston Martin he can really work on the team to get them in the top three," said Van der Garde.