There is some discussion in the media this week about Sebastian Vettel’s contractual status in 2012. To put things into perspective one should know that Vettel has been a Red Bull driver since he was in karting at the age of 12. There was a brief period after he won the Formula BMW Championship that BMW wanted to lay claim to him and Red Bull allowed this to happen, but retained ultimate control of the youngster, despite the fact that he made his F1 debut with BMW Sauber in 2007. He was then released when Red Bull wanted him to step in and replace Scott Speed at Scuderia Toro Rosso. Vettel moved up from there to Red Bull Racing in 2009 and in the middle of that year he signed a new contract to take him through the 2010 and 2011 seasons, with an option for 2012. The Swiss magazine has now revealed that the 2012 option is an automatic one which kicks in if he finishes in the top three in 2011 and wins a set number of races. This makes sense for all parties. Vettel is being paid decent money at Red Bull, although it is not in the superstar league of Fernando Alonso & Co. It was probably around $10 million last year, which is a big improvement on the previous year. Red Bull seems to have a policy of having a relatively low retainer and then decent bonuses for success. The team with the fastest car is always in the strongest negotiating position so Vettel would not have been able to push for much than that, but at the same time he does not want to give up the best car by asking for too much money. He is smart enough to know that having a top car is better in the longterm than getting a lot of money. If you have success money will come.
Some drivers care about driving for a famous team such as Ferrari, but most simply want to be winners and they do not care which team they achieve that success with. Red Bull would probably like to keep Vettel for the rest of his career. The team has said as much and there is no reason to think that would not suit Sebastian, so long as the team is doing well he will stay. In any case, Vettel is not about to move to Ferrari when Fernando Alonso is there. Alonso is still not yet 30 and so could have a very long career at Ferrari. Many in Formula 1 believe that the Italian team has Robert Kubica lined up whenever there is an opening and so Vettel is best off where he is for the moment.
I don’t remember a time with as many top drawer drivers as we have at the moment, Seb should stay at Red Bull for as long as they are competitive as Lewis surely will at McLaren. I still remain to be convinced of the Kubica to Ferrari rumours, I would love it to happen as the fireworks would be spectacular and RK deserves a go in a top team, but would Fernando want a driver as strong as Kubica in the other car? If he did allow it to happen it would be to his credit but I can’t see it.
I hope he stays at Red Bull for the moment, the field is nicely balanced now with a big star driver in the teams that are capable of winning races. It would be good to see Renault improve a bit and join the top 3 with Kubica.
I think Vettel will stick with Red Bull as long as Adrian Newey stays on board. I can’t see him following Villeneuve’s lead and chasing big money for a slower car. Vettel has plenty of time to win more races and titles with Red Bull before signing up for the big bucks at Ferrari when Alonso retires…I’m sure Mercedes would enter that bidding war too! Ker-ching!
I’m still struggling to remember him ever overtaking anyone for a win though…
If I were Vettel I buy a huge insurance policy on a certain Adrian Newey…
The only thing that could change the situation to me is if Mercedes eventually gets it’s act together and is running at the top. Or of course if someone beats him at Red Bull.
Drivers chose Ferrari because they have just the right combination of faculty, budget and desperation. If you time it right, you can retire on a 3-year-stint over there, and have a good shot at a WDC on top of it.
For as much as I like how Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel embody the ideal of supporting talents all the way from the junior classes up to the pinnacle of motorsports, I hope that at least one of them gets to sign a Kimi- or Alonso-like contract with the red squad. They’ve earned it.
Yeah, Kubica at team Ferrari will be great !
Best regards
I am dealing with contracts all year long and have been doing so for quite a long time now… This clause seems absurd to me. If Vettel really want to go to Ferrari and Ferrari put big green incentives on the table he just has to finish 4th, and not get the number of victories required for the automatic option… Totally ridiculous from RB…
Joe, how much are drivers in the “superstar league” being paid? I’m interested to know how far Seb is behind them.
“…he does not want to give up the best car by asking for too much money.”
A number of former F1 drivers appear to have made that mistake, especially around post-championship contracts with Williams!
He may not be a great character, but he is fast, and managed to hit the front at just the right time to win a championship, so *something* must be right in that young noggin of his.
kitchen
Re: Vettel overtaking for a win. Please check Malaysia 2010. Started 3rd and overtook Webber and Rosberg into the first corner.
Who overtook LH on the next to last lap in Brazil 2008? In a midfield car. If not for Glock, Massa would have been champ.
In the event that Vettel can’t back it up this year with the race wins and a top 3 Drivers Championship position, what would happen? Do RBR keep him or let him go? What happens to Webber?
If I were Vettel, I’d stay with Red Bull so long as Newey is with the team. I’d stipulate in my contract should Newey retire, or move on from Red Bull, my contract ends immediately (or at the end of the F1 season in which he designed his last car).
Joe
He’s probably fed up with the blatant favouritism shown to Webber by a certain Dr Marko…….
In 17 years of watching F1 on TV and occasionally covering it I thought I had seen it all till I saw the ‘hottest talent’ going into a tizzy on a rather straight strip and bumping off his mate (oopps….team mate) in Turkey. And, that too in dry…!!!
As far as I can see, Kubica has the least choice out of the top drivers.
He’s good friends with Alonso, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid enough to harm his own career by playing second fiddle in a red car.
Meanwhile, the Hamilton/Button combination looks like it has years left in it (the more Brundle predicts a bust-up the longer I think both are going to stay at McL).
And then you have RBR, a team with a culture based aggressivly around its own young driver programme headed by that bloke who sounds like a bond villain.
Seriously, Dr Helmut Marko should have his own lair in the Austrian Alps.
Anyway, I digress, I think there’s a real chance of Ricciardo replacing Webber for 2012.
Which leaves the talented Pole looking either at Mercedes (which would probably rather call a matured Di Resta back from Force India next year if Schumacher’s comeback dies) or his current team.
And personally I just don’t believe the new Lotus Car co. expansion plan is going to work out, so I don’t see Lotus Renault or what ever it’s called developing into a championship-winning team.
Kubica might be stuck – although if something did happen at McL I can see Whitmarsh being real quick off the mark to snap him up. Just my opinion.
PS – Joe, is there any news on RBR’s big spend up in 2010 and its request for a dispensation re resource restrictions this year? I doubt they’ll be penalised but if they were it might be good news for levelling the playing field this season.
The kitchen cynic = agree.
Yes, he seems to be a great driver in…. *by far* the best car. How many drivers wouldn’t have won 2010 if they had the Magical RB to caress around the track?
If the car is identical or worse than Alonso’s or Hamilton’s car?….. Yah.
Actually that prompted a bit of a cynical tirade on my blog… sorry Joe
Agree with most of the comments saying that as long as Newey is in the team, he should stay there – the car is very competitive, there’s (almost) no reason to believe that it won’t be in 2011 and 2012, so the future looks bright, correct ? He, Vettel, would get only into troubles if heading to Ferrari – there’s Alonso, and we still don’t know how Massa will perform, so speculations about Kubica at Ferrari are still too early to call.
keep Vettel away from Ferrari, their simply not fast enough… renault is. Vettel vs Webber is more exciting. LOL
Yea we are blessed with good drivers.
There are probably 4 truly top drivers there at the minute: Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and Kubica are probably top drawer.
Then you have 7 really good driversSchumi (still to prove he is able to get back to that top echalon), Webber, Button, Rosberg, Barrichello and Massa.
Of the rest it is hard to see who is the next big thing Petrov?, Sutil?, Hulkenburg? Di Resta, Buemi, Algesuari, Maldonado?
I dont rate Liuzzi, Glock, Trulli, Di Grassi, D’Ambrosio, Kovalainen, Chandok, Karthekayan.
Would love to hear others’ opinion on this lot!
I read somewhere that Vettel does not have a manager as such. He goes along and negotiates his own contracts only with a lawyer in tow to make sure the words are correct and stand up. A mature head on his shoulders indeed so if he negotiated that for himself, he must know what he is doing! I think I would tend to stay at RBR also – what is the point of moving away from winning cars?
Mind you, if he could just learn to overtake…
Joe, any idea how the bonus system worked when Vettel was clearly in control of the races and the car gave up on him?
Dera all
It’s a bit rough, IMHO, to single out Seb re Overtaking- just look at Alonso and Petrove…. and, a formula which doesn’t lend itself to overtaking, as well as numerous circuits which do nothing to enhance it.
Unless motivated by the thought of a “golden handshake” prior to retirement, none of the current top-rungers would surely think of going to Ferrari whilst Fernando is there, and,at the height of his powers, which, along with consumate “at the wheel” skills, includes a mastery of “building the team around him”.
And, given the debacle of Alonso/Hamilton at McLaren, would Ferrari want, say, a Kubica in the “other” car??
Talk about buying trouble.
The only time it would be wise for Seb to consider a move to Ferrari would be in Alonso’s final season, and, good Lord willin’, creeks don’t rise, that is a decade away, unless Fernando is lured to jump ship to another team. (And, with Newey going along to ferrari with him)
Cheers
MarkR