One door may have just swung open for Sebastian Vettel.
Having lost his Ferrari seat for 2021, the quadruple world champion is hitting back hard at the notion that he asked for too much money.
"Schwachsinn!" he is quoted by Osterreich newspaper, uttering a word that is often translated from German as ’bull**it’.
"Money was not an issue at all. If I only wanted to top up my wallet, I would probably have a seat already. But I want to leave the whole topic behind now."
Mercedes’ door has closed to Vettel for 2021, but he admits to having called his old Red Bull boss Dr Helmut Marko.
"I still get on very well with Helmut so I asked him what he advised me to do. But it wasn’t ’Helmut, do you have a place for me?’."
Indeed, while Aston Martin could also be an option, Red Bull’s doors have been firmly closed, prompting Vettel to admit: "I have to be honest enough with myself and say ’Maybe that’s it!’
One option is a sabbatical.
"Exactly. Anything is possible at the moment," the 33-year-old says. "I don’t see why I should let myself be put under pressure from the outside.
"If there’s something reasonable, I am interested, but if there’s not, then I won’t. But I will definitely finish the season," Vettel added.
If Vettel does want to keep his F1 career alive in 2021, Gunther Steiner may welcome him to the small American team Haas.
"Vettel is a four time world champion. Does he really want to work with a smaller team?" Steiner said in Austria.
"I don’t know what he wants to do with his life, but if he wants to do something with us, we are happy to have a good relationship with him," he added.
Steiner said the Vettel saga is just the latest surprising twist in the world of Formula 1.
"Sometimes three or four teams fight over the same driver, while at other times there are great drivers who are left outside, like Nico Hulkenberg a year ago," he said.
"As for us, I’m not worried that we won’t find any drivers. Vettel is on the market after all!" he laughed.