Vettel: All three F1 title contenders would deserve championship

Former Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel thinks Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen would all be worthy winners of the driver's title this season.

McLaren's Norris leads team-mate Piastri by 24 points with three grand prix weekends remaining starting with Las Vegas from Friday.

Four-times world champion Verstappen is 49 behind Norris having clawed his way back into contention in the second half of the season. Piastri had dominated the first half but nerves appear to have let Briton Norris in.

“We have a bit to go in the season, but it’s good – I like it! The favourites are the McLarens," Germany's Vettel told F1.com.

"I think all three would deserve it in the end. It would be an incredible story for the two McLaren drivers, as well as a fifth title for Max."

McLaren's last driver's title came via Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and the British team have been also-rans for much of the period in-between.

Vettel, who was at last weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix to promote his F1FOREST tree conservation project, has ruled out a return to the grid having retired in 2022. But he could see himself in another role in F1 governance or with a team.

"I mean, I’m not in a rush, because with any other role [than a driver] there’s no age limit. Ask Helmut (Marko, Red Bull’s 82-year-old adviser), for example," he said.

"It depends really on the role. Obviously I enjoy the psychological element, the drivers, the young drivers, but also what a team needs to win – what differentiates the team that succeeds from the ones that don’t.

"I think time will tell. If the challenge is the right one and it comes at the right time, why not? But I’m also not going from door to door, knocking and saying, ‘Do you have a job?’"