Vettel to move up to Red Bull team
The 20-year-old rookie has impressed from the cockpit of the Toro Rosso outfit so far in 2008; the team that is part-owned, sponsored and supplied with cars by its energy drink parent.
Vettel's contract, meanwhile, is with Red Bull, not Toro Rosso, and Dietrich Mateschitz's racing advisor Helmut Marko admitted recently that the youngster is likely to step up to Red Bull Racing next season.
But on the verge of the DTM race at Oschersleben last Sunday, Vettel insisted: "My focus is on Barcelona and the rest of the season.
"Let's think first about this season," he reportedly smiled to the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.
04/17/08 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel is likely to move from Toro Rosso to Red Bull's primary formula one team in 2009, the Swiss newspaper Blick said.
The probable move, also flagged by the energy drink outfit's motor racing advisor Helmut Marko in the British magazine Autosport this week, has been on the cards for some time.
Last year, Red Bull magnate Dietrich Mateschitz insisted that Vettel, the ever impressive 20-year-old German, is likely to be in a Red Bull cockpit in 2009.
It also emerged recently that, while his teammate Sebastien Bourdais' contract is with Toro Rosso this year, Vettel's deal – set to run for another couple of years – is solely with Red Bull.
When asked if Vettel is set to move up to Red Bull Racing next year, Marko answered: "I think so, yes."
Surely among the favorites to replace Vettel at STR next year, alongside Red Bull test driver Sebastien Buemi, is New Zealand teenager Brendon Hartley, who recently gave the team's 2008 car its actual track debut at Vairano.
The 18-year-old, with long blonde hair, is currently racing in British F3 with Red Bull sponsorship, and has moved from Austria to live with Buemi in Milton Keynes (UK), close to Red Bull Racing's base.
"I always thought I would arrive in formula one some day but never really knew how it would happen. The dream is getting closer and closer all the time now," he admitted.
Hartley also revealed that – "fingers crossed" – he will do some driving in RBR's F1 driver simulator this year.
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| Sebastian Vettel |
04/16/08 Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko thinks it is likely the "special" Sebastian Vettel will be driving for the team next season.
The German is currently impressing for Scuderia Toro Rosso, Red Bull's B-team, and has been tipped for bigger things.
And Marko told admits it is likely the 20-year-old will be driving for Red Bull by the time the next season starts.
He told Autosport: "I think so, yes.
"He's a special one and he is very developed for his age. He can be very aggressive in the car but he's also technical and well trained.
"Red Bull has been with him for eight years and we have a contract for another couple of years."
Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost also had nothing but praise for Vettel.
"He is one of the best young drivers so far," he told Autosport.
"He's been racing for 15 years so from the driving side he's very mature. But he's also really clever and I think this is a key to his success.
"Sebastian is on a much higher level than many other drivers; both in and out of the cockpit.
"He knows he can do the job if we provide him with the right car. He has already reached a very high level and it depends which car he will get for next season but he can become a front runner."