Column: Ferrari must now dump Vettel and choose Carlos Sainz

The new leader

Vettel came to Ferrari in 2015 as the new leader. Fernando Alonso had finished with the Italians (and perhaps the other way around) and decided to move to the new project of McLaren-Honda. Vettel had to pull the cart with the Italians and that started quite well. With Kimi Raikkonen at his side, Vettel was the clear leader and Ferrari could fight again.

However, where Alonso fought for the title twice to the last, Vettel never succeeded. Again and again the material left Vettel in the lurch, but mostly it was also the German himself who seemed to fall short of his rival Lewis Hamilton. Did Ferrari have the best driver or did it lose the title precisely because of that driver?

It made Ferrari take the gamble with young talent Charles Leclerc and Vettel immediately fell through the cracks. Leclerc won the internal duel in 2019. Even though the Monegask only had one year of experience in Formula 1 and at the beginning of the year was really labeled number two, Leclerc got more points, won more races and was the strongest in the qualifying game.

The situation of Vettel

The mega contract of the four-time world champion came in a different light. Is Vettel as good as those four world titles suggest? It will also be a question Ferrari asks itself and it is therefore logical that there is now a contract on the table with less money per year and a shorter duration.

Vettel, in turn, will not want to sign a contract so soon where he is now really equal to Leclerc on paper, because with that all his privileges expire. However, the question is where Vettel still wants to go and who would still want him? The German has a nice price tag and the question is whether he is worth it.

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari does have several options. If Vettel doesn't want to sign up for less, there are of course a lot of drivers who want to get into the car of Ferrari, but not everyone is good enough. The name that goes around the most is Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard might be too tempted to switch and has proven to be a stable factor within several teams.

At Toro Rosso, Renault and certainly at McLaren, Sainz has shown that he can perform at a top level and that he can keep this up over a whole season. The question is whether he has the peaks in his performance that we do see at a Leclerc and Max Verstappen, because that was what was lacking in the duel with the Dutchman at Toro Rosso.

At Ferrari Sainz would have the chance to show that and he could be the stable factor next to the still capricious talent of Leclerc. Sainz also doesn't stand for a mega salary on the payroll at McLaren, so he certainly doesn't have to cost as much as Vettel.

The big smile of Ricciardo

The other option is Daniel Ricciardo, but there are some hiccups. At Renault Ricciardo now earns twenty million a year and then Ferrari would have to pay him more than they are planning at Vettel. In addition, at 30 years of age Ricciardo is no longer the youngest and therefore certainly not the man who will now want to sign an equal contract. He wants to be the leader, as his departure from Red Bull Racing has shown.

So if Sainz moves, Ricciardo is the ideal man to put in the car with McLaren. Lando Norris is fast, but still erratic about a season. Ricciardo could pull the cart and achieve great things with McLaren. As said, there are several other options for Ferrari, but the question is whether they can handle the level.

What chooses Ferrari?

Kevin Magnussen has a short link to the team with Haas connected to Ferrari, but whether a role as second driver is for the hot-tempered Dane is doubtful. Antonio Giovinazzi also considers himself a candidate, but as a Ferrari protégé he has shown just enough to be allowed to stay in F1, let alone leave for Ferrari.

Ferrari is facing a difficult decision in the time of the coronavirus. Will it go for a whole new road with Leclerc and a new driver, or will it hold on to the experienced Vettel a little longer? There is, however, the risk that Vettel will be able to ignore a team order in his time and not be averse to fights with his teammate. A risk, something Ferrari generally doesn't like to take.

The original article appeared on the Dutch website of GPblog.com and was written by Tim Kraaij