ESPNF1: Vettel 'surprised' by Ferrari decision, says he was not offered new deal
Sebastian Vettel has revealed that Ferrari did not offer him a contract for 2021 and says he was "surprised" when team principal Mattia Binotto phoned him to tell him he would not be driving for Ferrari next year.
Vettel, a four-time world champion, has been at Ferrari since 2015 but has failed to achieve his dream of winning a championship in red.
At the launch of this year's car in February, Binotto said Vettel was the team's No. 1 choice to partner with recently re-signed Charles Leclerc next year, but by May Ferrari had announced Vettel would not continue at the team beyond 2020. Binotto later said that he discussed the situation with Vettel and came to the conclusion that they no longer "shared the same short- or long-term goals."
However, ahead of the first race of the season this weekend in Austria, Vettel revealed that no contract negotiations had taken place and that he was not aware of any issues with the team before he got the phone call from Binotto.
"There was no sticking point," he said "It was obviously a surprise to me when I got the call from Mattia when he told me that there was no further intention for the team to continue. We never got into any discussions, there was never an offer on the table and therefore there was no sticking point."
Cold...
After the agony of defeat, success will be sweet!
