Vettel’s contract talks have begun ’now’

Sebastian Vettel says talks with Aston Martin about a new contract for 2023 will kick off "now".

The Silverstone based team has made clear it wants to keep the quadruple world champion on board, but 35-year-old Vettel has also been linked with a shock switch to McLaren.

"I think Lando (Norris) has a contract," the German said cheekily at Paul Ricard.

"No, I know some people there, but I think it’s just rumours."

Aston Martin boss Mike Krack said recently that Vettel is the team’s ’plan A’ - and at present there are no talks with ’plan B’ alternatives like Mick Schumacher.

"I’m not only plan A for Aston Martin, they are also plan A for me," Vettel told Bild newspaper. "We’re going to start talking now."

Aston Martin freely acknowledges that it needs to put together a faster package to convince Vettel to stay, after recent upgrades failed to deliver their promise.

"We brought an update to Silverstone that we didn’t fully get on top of yet," Vettel said. "Maybe this weekend will help us to get a little bit more answers."

As for what happens next in his Formula 1 career, he answered: "Well, I’m racing this weekend, and the next one.

"Obviously I’ve said that at some point we’ll start to talk, and I’m talking to the team. I think there’s a clear intention to keep going. We’ll see soon where we stand."