When he says so. Everything should be fine between Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel. Team boss Mattia Binotto speaks in an interview about the relationship with the four-time world champion.
Barcelona (AP) - Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has ruled out a separation from Sebastian Vettel before the end of the contract for the four-time Formula 1 world champion from Germany after this season.
"No, absolutely not. It would be a shame if we did something like that," said the 50-year-old Italian in an interview with "Bild am Sonntag".
Binotto added: "Sebastian is part of our family. Regardless of the decisions we have made for the future, he is part of the Ferrari family. We trust him - as a driver and as a person." Vettel is a great driver, still fast. "That's why we would never make such a decision," said Binotto.
The words of the team boss, who is under criticism and under pressure, can be countered with sobering and disappointing figures. Vettel got ten points out of 130 possible from the first five races of the season. After replacing the chassis on his Ferrari, he missed the top ten in qualification for the third time this year on Saturday. Vettel looked disillusioned and not very combative about the renewed disappointment.
Binotto did not want to know anything about the intentional sabotage of the 33-year-old native of Heppenheim. "My answer is simple: this is completely wrong." Ferrari needs Vettel and his talent. "We help him wherever we can. We stand by Sebastian, just as he stands to Ferrari and our whole team on the track. Together we try to find out what is currently going on with his performance."
Whatever the Scuderia tries at Vettel, it doesn't work. Even before his first assignment for Ferrari, his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was eleven years younger than him, was declared to be the personified future of the Scuderia, something that Binotto cannot ignore.
"I understand that a lot has now been written in Germany about alleged tensions between him and us, but that's all total nonsense," said Binotto. "Although everyone knows that it will be his last season, he is behaving completely decently. The atmosphere is positive for us despite the difficult situation."
Binotto also referred to Vettel's clear criticism in the race last Sunday at Silverstone, when he blatantly accused the team via pit radio of having "screwed up" that he got stuck in traffic after an early tire change.
Binotto: "As for this specific case, we talked to Sebastian in detail afterwards and we agreed that it would probably not have had a major impact on the race result if we had left him further out."
Binotto's statements are also noteworthy with a view to the end of the collaboration after this season. Vettel could not agree with the representation of Ferrari that it was a common agreement. "If a decision is announced together, it is also a joint decision for me. Whether both parties are happy with the decision is a different matter," said Binotto.
In the coming year, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz Junior from McLaren will take over the cockpit from Vettel. The future of the Heppenheimer is still unclear.
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