Ferrari justified in playing Vettel waiting game

Cesare Fiorio, former sporting director ofFerrari, thinks Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto is right in waiting to make a decision on Sebastian Vettel’s future.

Vettel is out of contract at the end of the 2020 season, which could well be his last campaign as a Ferrari driver if the Scuderia decide on bringing in a new, fresh face or whether the four-time World Champion decides on a new challenge or retires from the sport.

Ferrari wasted no time in securingCharles Leclerc on a new long-term contract until the end of the 2024 season, but Fiorio thinks two factors in particular mean his former team are approaching the situation correctly when it comes to Vettel.

“Vettel made an exaggerated number of mistakes during 2019, but he did try and correct that a little bit in the last part of the season,”Fiorio said via FormulaPassion.it.

“The on-track mistakes contrast so much with the strong experience Vettel obtained with Red Bull when he won four World Championships. So Binotto’s approach [to wait on making a decision about Vettel] is justified if we consider two aspects.

“First, the arrival of Leclerc who has demonstrated his significant skills already by claiming victories and pole positions without any fear of his more experienced team-mate.

“Second, the arrival of some very promising young drivers coming in from the minor formulas, formulas that look more and more like Formula 1 even if the cars have lower power and performance.

“These formulas are a fundamental training base in the preparation to make the jump to Formula 1. In recent times, Gasly, Ocon, Norris, Russell, Albon, Giovinazzi, have all come up through the ranks with promise.

GP3, F2 and F1 are fairly level today, excluding engine quality. With this in mind, I understand Mattia Binotto’s foresight in wanting to keep up with the important evolution that Formula 1 will have on the drivers coming through and may be consider them for the future.”

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