Vettel plays down Ferrari contract talk

Sebastian Vettel has played down reports he is under pressure to ink a new Ferrari contract.

Reports have suggested team president Sergio Marchionne wants the German to commit to a deal with a significant pay-rise by September’s Italian grand prix.

"The contract extension is not an issue at the moment," Speed Week quotes Vettel as saying in Montreal.

"Maybe that sounds a little strange, but we are focused entirely on the season and so far we have not had time to talk about it in peace. We are all trying to preserve the current momentum that we have," he added.

Vettel was also asked about claims from all sides last week that his strong involvement in the development of this year’s Pirelli tyres has given Ferrari an obvious advantage.

"I was simply asked if I wanted to test and I said yes immediately," he said.

"I don’t know if it was an advantage because the transition car was completely different to what we have now. For example, we had problems getting heat into the tyres but this is no longer an issue, at least for us," added Vettel.