03/07/2020
NEWS STORY
On the face of it, it was an amicable decision. Having failed to reach a mutually acceptable agreement, Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel would part company at season end.
However, as the F1 circus reconvened yesterday, the German revealed that, contrary to speculation, the two parties were unable to agree on a suitable deal, indeed no deal had even been offered.
In fact, the first the German knew that he was not continuing with the Maranello outfit was when he received a phone call from team boss, Mattia Binotto.
"We never got into any discussions, there was never an offer on the table and therefore there was no sticking point," said Vettel.
Today, when asked for his side of the story, Binotto only muddied the waters further, blaming the situation on the pandemic.
"We have always said to him during the winter time privately and publicly that he would have been our first choice, which I confirm," said the Italian.
"It's normal that during winter time lots of drivers asked if there was an opportunity to drive for Ferrari, but that didn't change our position, Seb was our first choice," he added.
"What happened since then? I think the virus, the pandemic situation, which changed the entire world, not only motorsport, but also Formula 1.
"The budget cap has been changed, it is lot more strict, the regulations have been postponed from '21 to '22 which was somehow important for us, the cars which have been almost frozen for '20 and '21, so the entire situation has changed.
"Even the season has not started, so there was no opportunity even for Sebastian to be back on track to prove how much he was really motivated to drive for Ferrari, which has been somehow unfortunate for him," he added.
Admitting that he understands why Vettel might feel badly treated, he said: "During the shutdown, as Ferrari we had to reconsider eventually our position, we took our decision, it was our decision, that is our responsibility, and we communicated to him.
"I heard that he was surprised, which somehow I remember if he was surprised I would say yes certainly, I understand it, I think that it is pretty normal to be surprised.
"I think that while he accepted our decision even today I can say he is not fully happy with it which I can say something which is normal, and obvious."
Of course, Ferrari has history... when Michael Schumacher's time was felt to be at an end he was shown the door in favour of Kimi Raikkonen, who was then shown the door when Fernando Alonso became available, and in turn the Spaniard gave way to a certain Mr Vettel.
It's the way they do things down Maranello way.
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