Vettel is still on Ferrari’s radar
During the Vroom days in Madonna di Campiglio, Stefano Domenicali did not rule out the possibility of Sebastian Vettel joining the Scuderia one day and stated his desire to prove to Adrian Newey the value of Ferrari's engineers.
In two seasons, Sebastian Vettel has risen to the top of Formula One. The youngest double world champion in history, some predict a career akin to Michael Schumacher for the German while others are waiting to see how the Red Bull driver will perform against stronger competition or in the face of a potential technical decline.
Under contract with the Austrian team until 2014, the Heppenheim native has never hidden his interest in Scuderia Ferrari, which reciprocates this interest, as demonstrated once again by Stefano Domenicali: “You should never say never. He is a great driver and had an incredible season. It’s not easy to win the title two seasons in a row. But, last season, with all his pole positions and the number of victories he achieved, it’s easy to compare what he did with others… so we will see,” says the team principal of the Italian team.
Last December, Luca di Montezemolo also gave a highly complimentary speech about the German driver: « Vettel is a brilliant driver. He is young, but he seems very intelligent in the way he takes care of himself. He has a great future: I like drivers who use their heads more than their right foot. [If he joins Ferrari], it must be on the condition that it does not upset the team: today, we have found our balance, I do not want drivers who have problems with each other » the Italian cautioned, likely recalling the difficult collaboration between Prost and Senna at McLaren or, more recently, between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, the latter being under contract with the Rossa until 2016.
But Sebastian Vettel’s recent successes are inseparable from Adrian Newey’s genius, who has added to his track record, along with Red Bull, the names of Williams and McLaren, but never yet that of Scuderia Ferrari: « I think Adrian Newey has shown what he can do in a fantastic way, especially these last two seasons » responds Domenicali when asked about the potential interest the British engineer might generate from Maranello. « Now, what he wishes to do in the future… well, we’ll see. For the moment, I want to ensure that my engineers, my technical directors, and my chief designers give it their all because I want them to show him how good they are: that’s my goal right now » concludes Ferrari’s team principal.
