THE last 48 hours have produced the most important changes in the Formula 1 driver market for some years and I know fans have been quite shocked to read that Sebastian Vettel is leaving Ferrari at the end of the years, replaced by Carlos Sainz whose McLaren drive will be taken by Daniel Ricciardo.

It means that, with the 2020 Formula 1 season not yet started, a lot of people are already looking forward to 2021! Formula 1 is in the middle of a 63 day shut-down due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there have clearly been a lot of Zoom and WhatsApp conference calls in recent weeks. This is a business which never stands still.

Looking at the Ferrari announcement, two things are clear. The first is that negotiations ended without a solution and they decided to split. Negotiations means that, for both the team and driver, the original intention was to try and do a deal. In public Sebastian had been quite open about his hopes to agree a new deal, so this is not about a decision to retire; they were simply unable to agree a deal.

This brings me to my second point which is that the negotiation took place in the context of last December’s announcement that Charles Leclerc had signed a new contract until the end of 2024, guaranteeing that he would drive for the team for at least five more seasons. Remember Charles had a very strong 2019 season, with seven pole positions and two victories, including winning the Italian Grand Prix in September – Ferrari’s home race. He finished fourth in the World Championship in his first year with the team, while Sebastian was fifth.

This meant that Sebastian’s negotiations with Ferrari were never going to be easy because the team had already made a long term commitment to Charles, and Sebastian’s performance had not been quite as good.

Sebastian is a great Grand Prix driver. To win four World Championships is a major achievement and he finished second in the World Championship to Lewis Hamilton in both 2017 and 2018. Indeed he won the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix almost exactly 11 years after winning his first Grand Prix for Toro Rosso in Italy in 2008. He has been a very consistent performer, with 53 wins and 57 pole positions.

Sebastian has a big decision to make about his future. He was not considering retirement, but he will now have to look at what other options are available in 2021 and 2022, as well as consider how he feels about the job of remaining a Formula 1 driver – especially if he is unable to drive for a winning team. Although he is only 33 this year, he made his debut in Formula 1 at a very young age, 19, and I am sure that when you start so young it also becomes more difficult to maintain the high energy levels you need to stay at the top of this sport.

Personally I would like to see him continue as he remains a quick driver and a great ambassador for Formula 1, but only he can make the final decision. He will know in his heart what the right decision is.

In my podcast on May 1, I answered a fan’s question about my own decision to retire from Formula 1. I explained that after 10 years I got to a point in 2000 where I had a few incidents and then at the start of 2001 had big accident in Melbourne when the car suffered a technical failure. My car hit the barrier really hard and I was taken to the medical centre. I started thinking, ‘What the hell is going on here, Mika?’

The safety in Formula 1 was good, but not as great as it is today, so incidents like this started to affect my confidence. That lead to my decision to stop. I told my McLaren boss Ron Dennis in Monaco that year, which came as a shock to him and was also not easy for me. I explained that if I was losing my confidence just a little this would mean I could not be so consistent with my lap times, and ultimately not do the best job for the team.

As a competitive driver used to winning races and going for the World Championship you always know when your energy level starts to drop and your absolute commitment starts to go away.

If Vettel signs with Mercedes, the German team will have had a total of 18 World Titles drive for them since 2010. pic.twitter.com/uZIua8KbWD

— f1racers (@f1racers_) May 15, 2020

The news that Carlos Sainz Jr is to replace Sebastian at Ferrari is great news for him following a strong season with McLaren in which he finished sixth in the World Championship including scoring a podium in Brazil last November.

He is a super guy, a quick driver and definitely inherited the speed and quality which for which made father Carlos Sainz Sr a two times World Rally Champion. Carlos Sr also won the Dakar Rally in January so it has been a big year already for that family! I have no doubt that Carlos Jr will be a strong and exciting team mate to Charles Leclerc.

Although we still think of Carlos Jr as being ‘new’, he has already raced in Formula 1 for five years. He is actually going to be the most experienced driver at Ferrari and I am sure that is one of the reasons they decided to sign him.

I am very excited by the decision of McLaren bosses Zak Brown and Andrea Seidl to sign Daniel Ricciardo as the new team mate to Lando Norris. Daniel has a formidable talent, especially when it comes to overtaking, and he has a very positive mindset which reflects the mood at McLaren. I have the feeling this deal will work well. The team is on the way up, and in 2021 will have the use of Mercedez-Benz engines, with a clear focus on returning to the podium and winning races.

In some ways I think the news about Daniel leaving Renault has been the biggest shock of the week as he only joined the French team in 2019 and, thanks to the coronavirus, has yet to drive for them in 2020. Daniel clearly has the hunger to win, and that after finishing ninth in the World Championship last season he will have realised that, despite using Renault engines, McLaren had a faster car than Renault. I am sure that is when his decision to move started to take shape.

There now remains a vacant seat at Renault alongside Esteban Ocon. Sebastian Vettel could go there, or Fernando Alonso return to the team with which he won two World Championships, so there could still be some very interesting moves ahead.

As always Formula 1 generates a lot of interest away from the race track, but nothing is as exciting as when the racing actually starts. Let us hope that the proposed start to the Formula 1 World Championship in Austria on July 5 goes ahead, and we can settle down to watching all of these guys doing what I always loved. Going flat out.