Ferrari has given Sebastian Vettel a deadline of the Italian Grand Prix in September to decide if he will remain with the Scuderia in 2018.
Though both driver and team have enjoyed a hugely successful 2017, with three wins and a worst result of second in six races, the lingering shadow of Mercedes interest has hung over the entire year.
It follows on from Ferrari’s difficulties last season, when the team started brightly but slipped back throughout the year, failing to score a single victory and falling behind Red Bull in the standings.
The four-time world champion also appeared to fall out with team boss Maurizio Arrivabene as well, after he told Sky Italia last October Vettel needed to “earn” a new contract, with his current deal expiring at the end of this year.
Though it would be expected the upturn in form would make signing an extension a formality nothing has yet taken place with Germany’s Sport Bild reporting president Sergio Marchionne as wanting a decision by the team’s home race at Monza, the traditional date the Maranello outfit confirm their line-up for the following year.
The same can also be said for team-mate Kimi Raikkonen with many believing this would be the Finn’s last year in F1. Names like Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez have all been linked to Ferrari but no interest has yet been made official.
Ricciardo has been speaking out about Vettel’s chances of claiming a fifth world championship this year, however, claiming the German will be “hard to beat” if he maintains his current form.
“Seb is one of the best drivers on the grid period, but he’s absolutely one of the best when he has good equipment and a car he has confidence in,” the Australian told FOX Sports News 500.
“You can see that this year: his worst result is a second place and he’s obviously comfortable and confident in the car. Unless something drastically changes, he’s going to be hard to beat in the state he’s in.”
The Red Bull driver did suggest it was still premature to call him the outright favourite though, adding: “It’s probably more in Seb’s hands at the moment, but nothing’s guaranteed. Absolutely not.”