7 drivers who can partner Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari next year

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg’s contract with Mercedes is up for renewal at the end of this year and it is being reported that he is looking for a switch to another team for next year. Recently, he has appointed Gerhard Berger to handle contractual negotiations regarding his drive for next season. Now, Berger is known to have good relations with Ferrari and should talks break down with Mercedes, it is likely that he will see Ferrari as the second option.

Giving more fuel to the fire have been reports that Rosberg is trying to negotiate a three-year deal with the team, with a two-year deal out of the question as by then Hamilton’s contract too will be up for renewal. Mercedes will probably not want to have a situation in which contracts of both its drivers end at the same time.

Moreover, it is no secret that Mercedes is looking to promote its test driver Pascal Wehrlein in the near future to the factory team. However, Mercedes must be aware of the fact that Wehrlein is still too inexperienced and needs to be given some more time in order to get fully accustomed with the sport.

Thus, it appears that Mercedes might end up retaining its current driver lineup at least for a few more years as the Nico-Hamilton duo has served the team well as far as the Constructor’s Championship is concerned. Although, there have been several episodes of tension between the teammates, but Mercedes still has brilliantly managed to make them work together.

Thus, their lineup seems to be working well and there doesn’t appear to be much of a reason why it would want to unnecessarily change its drivers for next year.