Sebastian Vettel is confident Ferrari remain "on the right road" to success after signing a new three-year contract over the Belgian GP weekend, which could see him remain at the Italian team until the end of 2020.
The German played down any expectation of news regarding his future in the build-up to the race at Spa but on Saturday morning word leaked that a deal had been done and it was later confirmed by the Scuderia.
It marks a continuation of the partnership that began in 2015 but speculation had been swirling about the terms of a new deal with the four-time world champion reportedly only wanting an additional year to be involved in the potential driver moves that could occur for 2019 as well as earlier claims of a pre-agreement to a future move to Mercedes.
His likely tentativeness to commit long-term comes after the difficult year in 2016 when Ferrari struggled for development and slipped behind Red Bull, but with the drastic improvement this season, that has seen the Maranello outfit challenge Mercedes and Vettel at the top of the championship throughout, he admitted remaining was an easy decision.
"I love this team," he said on Saturday. "I believe Ferrari has something unique, something that other teams don't have.
"Two years ago we said we wanted to get back on top and I think we are on the right road. We aren't where we want to be yet, but we are striving for the top. I want to achieve a lot with Ferrari and I think it's the same on the other side. When people talk about the legend, then, to me, it appears this legend is still alive.
"It's extremely great to be part of that family and in a way, it was a no-brainer to continue."
Despite the rapid upturn in performance this season, there remains uncertainty over whether Ferrari can maintain the pace compared to Mercedes over the full season. But they seemed to be eased in the race at Spa as Vettel and the Scuderia arguably had the quicker race car, despite finishing behind Lewis Hamilton, at a circuit their main rivals were expected to dominate on.
“The car was very good," the 30-year-old acknowledged. "We didn’t change too much compared to Silverstone which shows, on the one hand, that Silverstone was just a bad weekend, but we improved the car also, especially in race pace, very strong. We were, on average, a second at Silverstone, so it’s a big step.
“I’m very, very happy. I think we are on the right track and I don’t think we have a circuit we should fear, going from now.”
Certainly, there will be a lot of Ferrari fans hoping Vettel can get one over their main rivals this weekend at Monza, the home of the Tifosi but where the Silver Arrow will likely be favourite once again.
