Sebastian Vettel wants one-year Ferrari contract extension. Seb's current contract is available until the end of the 2018 season.

Sebastian Vettel‘s future with Scuderia Ferrari might not be as clear as recent media reports suggest. Several Italian Italian sources have been informing during the last few weeks that the Maranello team is getting ready to confirm both drivers, Sebastian Vettel alongside Kimi Raikkonen, for the 2018 Formula One season and the official announcement should be made at Monza next month, with Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne admitting a deal “may be close”.

However, Finland’s Ilta Sanomat newspaper now cites sources in saying that Scuderia Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel are in fact not in agreement regarding the duration of a new contract, as the four-time Formula One world champions seems to be pushing for a new deal which should be available only for one more year, in order to leave his options open for the 2019 Formula One championship.

“It is true that I haven’t got a contract yet.” – Sebastian Vettel recently admitted, as reported by the Italian media at the end of the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, a race which the German driver won ahead of his Scuderia Ferrari team-mate – “but I think the primary objective at the moment is not worrying about papers but making sure we get good results.” – Sebastian explained.

Another rumour is that the German driver had already signed a pre-agreement with rivas Mercedes prior to the start of the 2018 Formula One season, whereby the 30-year-old would not agree a post-2017 deal until after July, which would explain why Sebastian was not able to sign the new contract with Scuderia Ferrari until the summer break: “As I have said, I am not in a rush, I don’t think the team (Ferrari) is in a rush, and as far as I understand I think I have a good contact with the team and they would tell me otherwise. So as I’ve said there’s no problem – nothing wrong.” – Sebastian Vettel concluded, when asked to comment on his current contract situation.

Scuderia Ferrari’s German driver currently holds a 14-point lead over second-placed Lewis Hamilton in the Formula One driver rankings, ahead of the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit after the summer break.