Vettel admits eyeing ’plan’ for future

Sebastian Vettel says he is not yet seriously considering his retirement from F1.

The quadruple world champion is under huge pressure at Ferrari, with his young teammate Charles Leclerc clearly a driver of the future and Vettel’s contract expiring next year.

32-year-old Vettel also admits that his 2019 season was not good enough.

"It was not good enough for an 8, 9 or 10. A five would be too harsh, so I’ll say a 6 or a 7," he told Blick newspaper when asked to rank his season.

"But I have to be careful because things like that get rubbed in your face."

Indeed, Dr Helmut Marko says Vettel has already fallen outside the top three drivers in F1.

And Eddie Jordan has told Top Gear that he is "absolutely certain" Vettel will leave Ferrari after 2020 and be replaced by Lewis Hamilton, with Toto Wolff also to head to Maranello.

Spanish reports say Vettel has already been in contact with McLaren about 2021.

When asked if he has thought about retirement, Vettel answered: "Not specifically.

"But after more than 12 years, you wonder what comes next. You shouldn’t go through life without a plan, even if you don’t know if it’s really the plan that will happen."

Blick correspondent Roger Benoit even asked if a return to Red Bull is a possibility, and Vettel answered: "I wouldn’t go that far.

"At the moment the goal at Ferrari is clearly to win the title. And we’re not there yet."

As for all the criticism, Vettel added: "In all walks of life, people form judgements too quickly. And they forget about other things just as quickly."