Vettel denies Ferrari move

By Rajarshi Gupta at BIC

Vettel beamed after cruising home to his 26th career victory at the Buddh International Circuit and seemed to be in his usual bright mood until he was asked to clear the record on his rumoured contract with Ferrari from 2014.

“There is nothing to report or write on this because I am very happy with Red Bull Racing. You don’t know where all these reports keep coming out of," Vettel said.

“I am very happy at the moment (with my team) but am sorry to say this- if there is any bul****t in the press, there is some concern at the factory. I am always behind them and am sure they are behind me too, but this report of moving to Ferrari is certainly not true," Vettel said.

Vettel has had a sensational run with Red Bull but rumours about the German shifting to the Italian team started doing the rounds when Ferrari re-signed Felipe Massa for till 2013. The one year Massa deal sparked reports that Ferrari were eyeing something big for the 2014 season.

While Ferrari insisted they had a deal in place with the 25-year-old Vettel, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner had vehemently denied the existence of such a contract.

Vettel has been the backbone of Red Bull’s dominance over the last three years, having won two championships. On the brink of a third title, Vettel ironically has Alonso red hot on his heels but the German star looked to be at pains to clarify on what he thought were baseless rumours doing the rounds.

As the Formula One bandwagon shifts to Abu Dhabi for the next race, there might well be some uncomfortable questions asked at the Red Bull building, after Vettel’s outburst and clear hint at someone at the Red Bull factory making ‘mischief’.

However, Vettel heaped praises on his support staff, saying their all-conquering mode would not have been possible without some excellent work being done at the factory: “It is not any one area that has worked on our success. Everything and everyone together has been amazing.

“Yes, if I make a mistake on a Saturday and a Sunday, all the focus would be on me but I believe the great work being done behind the scenes are as important. I cannot take every name because it’s a huge place with hundreds of people but I am grateful to all of them,” Vettel said as teammate Mark Webber, who finished third, nodded in agreement.

Whether Vettel’s kind words help ruffle some frayed feathers after the aspersions he cast on his own factory workers over the Ferrari rumours remains to be seen.