17/07/2012
NEWS STORY
Mat Coch writes:
As the Formula One silly season begins to seriously hot up, Sebastian Vettel has again denied he has signed with Ferrari. Confirmed with Red Bull until the end of the 2013 season, and even though he's continually denied the links, rumours have carried on unabated linking the German to the Italian squad.
In June Vettel denied the suggestions, at the same time as rumours circulated that current teammate Mark Webber could be Maranello bound next season. Those rumours, while seemingly put to bed last week when Webber confirmed he'd be staying with Red Bull for the coming season, have been dragged up again courtesy of an interview with Vettel in Bild.
"I am honoured that Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo see a driver for Ferrari in myself," Vettel responded when questioned about his links with the Maranello team.
"There is no signal from me. I'm not signed, nor agreed with a handshake," he added.
"Alonso recently said that he was first rumoured to have signed a Ferrari contract in 2005. It then took until 2010 before he became a Red. In between were five years."
However Vettel refused to categorically rule out a move to Ferrari at some point in the future, a move that will keep tongues wagging. "If you would ask the 24 drivers in Formula 1 if (they) would like a Ferrari career, then all would say 'Yeah, right!' And so it is with me also."
Of course that in itself is no indication that such a scenario will ever arise; like any competitive person the 25-year-old's first ambition is to win - who he does it with is seemingly less important.
"It may even be that I never go anywhere else in my career, because there simply is no better package than Red Bull," he said.
After dominating the 2011 season the German has found things a little more difficult this time around. He currently lies third in the Drivers' Championship but remains confident things will move in his favour as the season wears on, unflustered by the fact that Webber is currently ahead on points.
"Mark and I may go for the title, the team support us both equally well," he claimed. "But I firmly believe that the title this year is absolutely possible. A victory on Sunday at Hockenheim - and the world looks very different."