Ex-World Champion Sebastian Vettel does not rule out a change from Ferrari to another Formula 1 racing team after the end of the upcoming season.

“You can, there are enough examples to prove it, even as a German”, said the German from Heppenheim in an interview with “Sport Bild”, which will be published later today.

When asked if you could drive for another team after Ferrari: “Michael Schumacher drove somewhere else after that, if I remember correctly.”

Like his idol Schumacher back then, Vettel was to lead the Scuderia back to the Formula 1 throne, and on 15th March he will start his sixth season with the historic team in Australia.

But even if Vettel again does not win the title for the Italian team, he wants to continue his career beyond the end of his contract with Ferrari. “There are no signs and no reason why I could or should not continue,” he said. Nevertheless, Vettel has been looking at a possible career end during the winter break. 

“I had a bit of time in the winter and used that time intensively to look into it,” he said,

“…and I’ve come to the conclusion that I definitely still want to do it and that I’m enjoying it.”

Vettel’s contract with the Scuderia expires at the end of 2020.

However, his new car with the designation SF1000 is “definitely a step forward compared to last year”, the 2010-2013 World Champion had said. Ferrari hopes to be competitive with Mercedes and series champion Lewis Hamilton from the first race in Australia.

2019 was not a good year for Vettel, in the end the German only finished fifth in the world championship and thus also behind his young team mate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque’s contract runs until 2022.

Team boss Mattia Binotto had this to say about Vettel over the winter testing period:

“Sebastian is our first choice at the moment. It is something we are discussing with him and we will continue to discuss. He is certainly our first option, and our preference.

“He knows what he needs to do and he prepared himself over the winter time to be ready for the start of the season. He’s very focused and concentrated, and hopefully he’ll still be our driver in the future.”

Not the greatest vote of confidence, and for sure Vettel knows that Ferrari will be now placing most of their focus for the coming battle on Leclerc. Vettel see the writing on the wall for his career at Ferrari.

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