Ferrari boss explains decision not to extend Sebastian Vettel’s contract. Mattia Binotto on Seb's exit.

Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto has revealed that he had to mentally rehearse three times his phone call to inform Sebastian Vettel he wasn’t being retained. Seb’s current contract runs out at the end of the 2020 season, and it had looked likely at the start of this year that it would be a simple matter of extending it.

However, the reality of Ferrari’s competitive struggles after Barcelona testing, allied to it pondering what was best for its long-term future, left team management believing that sticking with Vettel was not the right thing to do.

“Before calling Seb, I mentally repeated three times, what and how I should tell him about the decision. The choice against him was not easy, because we love him as a person, for how he behaves and for what he has given to the team over the years.” – Mattia Binotto explained – “Seb did not hang up. He is a very intelligent and a beautiful person. His behaviour during a season in which there was no shortage of difficulties also shows this. He is never negative, he is proactive and a very respectable person.” – the Ferrari boss added.

“But there comes a time when you need to make choices looking to the future. We have the duty and the ambition to have to look at the medium and long term and it is precisely on these rational arguments that one finds the strength to make certain choices. Charles Leclerc excites the enthusiasts, the fans and the team. He does it by setting the lap time in qualifying, by overtaking, with the way he defends himself on the track. Enzo Ferrari would have liked him a lot. In these difficult moments, Charles has never been critical. He is maturing and wants to help, contribute and make the team grow.” – Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto concluded.