Vettel to be Ferrari's next signing

UPDATE #2

Sebastian Vettel

(GMM) Is Ferrari already planning its future with Sebastian Vettel?

That was the question being asked by the German tabloid Kolner Express on Saturday, after the reigning multiple world champion was spotted meeting with Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

The rumor ties in not only with Fernando Alonso's flirtations with moves to rival teams like Red Bull and McLaren, but also comments made recently by Mark Webber.

The Australian had told Britain's Sky: "What they (Ferrari) do after that (Kimi Raikkonen's contract in 2014 and 2015) obviously (is) pick Seb up off the back of Red Bull and keep moving from there."

Officially, of course, Kolner Express was told that Vettel and Domenicali had met in Singapore simply by chance.

Asked about the latest Vettel rumors, Domenicali told the Spanish sports daily Marca: "I have read that so many drivers are coming here, it's fantastic!

"I even read that Webber was supposed to come. Honestly, there is nothing at all and so I say nothing. It's part of the game," he added.

Asked, however, if Ferrari still loves Alonso as much as it did in the past, and vice versa, Domenicali insisted: "Absolutely, absolutely.

"For me, he is the most important asset of our team."

09/15/13 Mark Webber believes that Ferrari are planning an eventual move for Sebastian Vettel.

The Scuderia announced Kimi Raikkonen as Felipe Massa’s 2014 replacement earlier this week, ending much speculation.

Webber believes that appointing the Finn is a signal of short-term intent and leaves the door open for signing Vettel in the future:

“Two years for probably both of them actually I think. And then what they do after that, obviously, pick Seb up off the back of Red Bull and they keep moving from there." He said.

“But it [signing Raikkonen] is a very short-term aggressive statement from Ferrari to put the team at the front."

09/13/13 (GMM) With the ink on Kimi Raikkonen's 2014 Ferrari contract still drying, Mark Webber is already making predictions about the next racer to make his way to Maranello.

Australian Webber, a close friend of Fernando Alonso, thinks the Spaniard's Ferrari contract will expire in unison with the team's new signing, Finn Raikkonen.

"Two years for probably both of them actually I think," the Red Bull driver, who is departing F1 for Le Mans sports car racing with Porsche at the end of the year, told the British broadcaster Sky.

"And then what they (Ferrari) do after that obviously (is) pick Seb up off the back of Red Bull and then they keep moving from there."

'Seb', of course, is Sebastian Vettel, Webber's teammate of the past years who – in an identical Red Bull – won three and now almost four world titles compared to Webber's 9 grand prix wins.

But the 37-year-old backed Ferrari's next pairing, saying Alonso and Raikkonen is "a very short-term aggressive statement from Ferrari to put the team at the front".

Webber thinks the move is justified on the basis that Alonso needs "to be pushed".

"He needs to be squeezed on Saturday afternoon to get the car further up the grid," he added.