Maurizio Arrivabene: “Sebastian is motivated and wants to win with Ferrari”. Ferrari Team principal reassured fans over Sebastian Vettel's intentions to continue with the Italian team.

Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has reassured fans over Sebastian Vettel‘s motivation and intentions to remain alongside Scuderia Ferrari in the long term, but has stressed the importance of producing a strong and competitive car for the 2017 Formula One season, as the Maranello team wants to provide both drivers with good chances of fighting for victories with Mercedes and Red Bull in the next championship.

During the second part of the 2016 season, the growing source of uncertainty and frustration for the German driver was very frequently analyzed and discussed by the media. Sebastian, who finished the season without a single win and only has three victories in two years with Ferrari, far from the impressive numbers he managed in Formula One, has now reached 27 consecutive races without victory, the longest period in his F1 career. Adding the fact that Finnish racing driver Valtteri Bottas only has a one-year guarantee with rivals Mercedes because the team wants to keep its options open for 2018, rumors immediately suggested that Vettel wants to becomes available at the end of the season in order to join Mercedes. However, this could not be further from the truth, as indicated by Maurizio Arrivabene:

“Sebastian is very happy at Ferrari, he wants to win with us and wants to help the team. He is working hard, not only on the simulators, but also with the guys back at Maranello. His valuable contribution will help us produce a very good car, I am sure of that. If Sebastian would not be motivated and completely focused, he would not be involved like that.” – Scuderia Ferrari’s Team principal said, as reported by the Italian press last week – “Obviously a driver of his caliber and his class wants a car which can let him express his true potential: at times he had such a car, but at times we made things difficult for him. He is a four-time Formula One world champion and we have to do our best to give him a winning car. There isn’t really anything else to add.” – Maurizio Arrivabene concluded.