Multiple reports are indicating Sebastian Vettel forced Ferrari into confirming his departure after talks broke down over a new contract.
Heightened speculation first began late Monday that the German’s exit at the end of 2020 had been decided and sure enough, early Tuesday the official statement came from Maranello announcing the news.
It came after weeks of rumours suggesting Vettel had initially rejected a pair of offers for a new deal, one for one year, another for two, but both featuring a 70 percent pay cut from $40m to just $12m.
According to Auto Bild, however, neither money nor the contract length led to Seb and Ferrari’s decision to split.
“The German believes that the internal politics of the Italians speak too strongly against him,” F1 journalist Ralf Bach wrote.
“Vettel broke several agreements with Charles Leclerc in 2019 and the Monegasque is considered the Ferrari man of the future and enjoys the unconditional support of the team.”
One tweet from an unsubstantiated source even claimed the relationship between Ferrari and the four-time world champion was so bad that Antonio Giovinazzi could replace Vettel when the 2020 season gets underway.
While it is highly unlikely he will break his contract early, Vettel did reportedly leak the news of his exit to German media, resulting in the Monday reports, and resulting in the early announcement from the team.
Since then, Carlos Sainz has emerged as the expected replacement for the 32-year-old, with that announcement possibly set for tomorrow at the earliest.
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