Sebastian Vettel admits his future at Aston Martin and in Formula 1 will depend on the potential he sees beyond this season.
The four-time world champion joined the Silverstone-based team at the start of last year in the hope of leading the world-renowned British brand to the front of the grid.
However, hopes the 2022 regulation changes could fast-track that process have been somewhat dashed with Aston Martin currently ninth in the Constructors' Championship only ahead of Williams.
And Vettel, who missed the first two races due to Covid-19, was philosophical when asked about his F1 future at Imola.
“I don’t know. No secrets, it will depend on how this year goes and then [I’ll] take it from there,” he said if he'll be on the grid next year.
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“My contract ends at the end of this season. Obviously, it’s not the year everyone in the team had hoped for, at least not the start of the season, but I think it would be bad to write it off already.
“One day there will be a day for all of us when this journey ends and some other journey will start, whatever that might be.”
Vettel also admitted that after spending much of his career fighting towards the front of the grid, adjusting to life in the midfield and even lower is tricky.
“In all honesty, I had an amazing 15 years or so, looking back, and I was in a position to win championships, win a lot of races, fight for pole positions, get a lot of podiums and obviously the taste was great," he explained.
“It’s not a secret that if you are not in a position to be there that it’s a different taste.
“You need to find a different motivation, but I think ultimately I am willing to be tasting the same again. That’s the nature of the sport.
“That’s one of the big deciders but the team is growing – there are a lot of things that look very promising," Vettel insisted.
“The answer is time will tell, but those will be the key things I will be looking at to see how promising it’s looking at the future and how soon.”
