Sebastian Vettel will be with Red Bull until 2015
Red Bull is looking to secure the future of its number 1 driver for as long as possible. His current contract has therefore been extended by an additional season, and will be valid until the end of the 2015 season.
This official announcement made by the team is not a big surprise but has the merit of clarifying the game of musical chairs within the big teams for the years to come. Indeed, some saw the end of Sebastian Vettel’s contract in 2014 as an opportunity for a transfer to Ferrari.
This announcement thus postpones such a possibility by at least a year. But more importantly, it allows the triple world champion and his team to align with the contractual timelines of the other major players in the championship. Lewis Hamilton is under contract with Mercedes until the end of the 2015 season, while Fernando Alonso’s contract currently ends one season later.
The big unknown now is the future of Kimi Räikkönen. The Finnish driver will be free to decide his future at the end of the current season. Will he join Red Bull as some are urging him to, in order to create an explosive duo with Sebastian Vettel, which would give him real chances to fight for the title again? His last two races in Monaco and Canada might encourage him to consider such a possibility.
But the ball is also in Red Bull’s court: while Mark Webber’s departure has been almost certain since the clash at the Malaysian Grand Prix, his replacement is not yet known. The Red Bull company wishes to achieve the same as with Sebastian Vettel: to bring a young driver from their junior program to the ultimate title. The two Toro Rosso drivers, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo, are therefore constantly battling to secure a position as a main driver within the parent team.
The “silly season” might therefore have been triggered by the announcement… of an extension of an already existing contract.
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
