Vettel exit announcement set for Tuesday

May 12 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel will leave Ferrari at the end of 2020, according to several authoritative media sources.

Germany’s Bild newspaper and Auto Motor und Sport were the first to reveal that the quadruple world champion and Ferrari have not been able to agree on a contract extension.

Bild cited a source as it claimed the news would be made official on Tuesday.

Sky Italia this week said the 32-year-old German had received offers for 2021 from McLaren and Renault, but it is also rumoured that he may retire.

Florian Konig, a reporter for the German broadcaster RTL, doubts the Vettel-Ferrari talks collapsed because Vettel’s pay would have been slashed for 2021.

“I think Sebastian is more interested in the terms of a new contract than the money,” he said.

“In general, the wage structure had to be corrected downwards due to the corona crisis. Salaries of $30 million will no longer be there.”

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo have been linked with the Ferrari seat alongside Charles Leclerc.

Former driver Marc Surer says Australian Ricciardo “knows how to win races”, but he isn’t sure the financial offer from Ferrari will be enough.

“For the first time in his career, Daniel is paid very well,” he told Speed Week. “You don’t want to give that up so easily.”

Reports that Lewis Hamilton could be a candidate for the red race seat are believed to be wide of the mark.

“As you know, Hamilton politely declined John Elkann’s winking eye months ago,” Ferrari insider Leo Turrini wrote on his Quotidiano blog.