F1 | Ricciardo and Vettel will have to wait until 2021 to get behind the wheel of McLaren and Aston Martin

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel will not be able to drive McLaren and Aston Martin before the next winter tests. In fact, the Australian and the German, compared to their colleague Carlos Sainz, will not have the opportunity to test an old single-seater as confirmed today by Andreas Seidl and Otmar Szafnauer, team principals of McLaren and Racing Point respectively.

Ricciardo and Vettel were two of the drivers who attracted the attention of the latest market. The driver from Perth will say goodbye to Renault, where he will be replaced by the returning Fernando Alonso, after two years while the German has decided to undertake a new challenge across the Channel after the failed renewal with Ferrari who decided to replace him with Carlos Sainz.

"Unfortunately we don't have the possibility to use an old car, due to the recent engine changes we had at McLaren (from next year Woking will be equipped by the Mercedes power unit, thus closing the partnership with Renault ed.) – declared Seidl during the team press conference in Sakhir – We are working with the technical, communications and marketing departments to integrate Ricciardo from January 1st. Having only three days of testing is challenging, but these are the rules. This is the challenge we have, we have to do it".

"Unfortunately we also don't have a single-seater from two years ago – said Szafnauer – We will do everything possible to allow Seb to integrate with the team, doing a lot of work on the simulator and using the three days of tests we have available to best prepare him for the first race".