The 2020 Formula 1 season promises to be difficult between Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari.
A few days before the start of the Formula 1 World Championship, the German driver has decided to settle accounts with his soon to be former employer.
The four-time world champion believes that contrary to public statements made by Mattia Binotto, he has not received any offers from the scuderia for a possible renewal of his contract.
Mattia Binotto said last March:
“We’ve begun discussing a new agreement.
“It’s something we’ll have to ratify before the end of the season.
“It is important for him and for us that things are settled as soon as possible. Discussions are ongoing, and I hope it will happen soon.”
Indeed TJ13 was told in Barcelona during winter testing that Vettel and Binotto were due to give an impromptu press conference, which inexplicably never occurred.
Sebastian Vettel has come out of his silence and says that “I’ve seen here and there that I didn’t accept Ferrari’s proposal, but that’s not true because they didn’t offer me anything at all.”
An intriguing statement and certainly one that already puts the German driver at odds with his 2020 team.
“One day I received a call from Mattia Binotto who told me that Ferrari had no intention of renewing the contract with me.” confirmed Vettel yesterday.
“We did not even discuss the matter and I can confirm that I did not receive any offer from them.” concludes the German.
This is a clear indication that as far as Vettel is concerned, Binotto wasn’t truthful with his comments to the press on the new contract.
As to who is or isn’t telling the truth, anyone can guess.
Binotto WAS 100% truthful – he didn’t specify with whom discussions were held, did he?
Well, all it took was a racing weekend to prove that this was the right decision from Ferrari. Vettel just cannot do it. 2018 was the year that showed it was not in the best interest of Ferrari to rely on Vettel. The car was pretty much equal to the Merc. Vettel lost his nerve. Another driver might have won the title. 2019 confirmed the suspicion. No Ferrari fan wants to see more mistakes from Vettel again. Enough is enough. 1st race of 2020 and he confirms once again that the decision was right. I hope the Germans take him to the Merc to have a German driver, so he can fight Hamilton with the same car. And let Ferrari go forward with the young drivers bringing a fresh air of optimism.