F1 journalists doubt Vettel will leave mid-season

Vettel laughs all the way to the bank with his $2 million Ferrari check after every GP

(GMM) Two highly respected Formula 1 correspondents do not think Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari will split before the end of the 2020 season.

The parties' 2021 split is already well known, but tensions between the fabled Italian team and the quadruple world champion became palpable at Silverstone last weekend.

However, Corriere della Sera correspondent Daniele Sparisci does not agree with rumors that Vettel will depart mid-season – or perhaps even imminently.

"There are currently no efforts to prematurely part with Sebastian," he told Bild newspaper. "Ferrari has too many other things to do."

Some had drawn parallels between Vettel's criticism on the radio last Sunday with the way Alain Prost was sacked by Ferrari when he compared the 1991 car to a truck.

"We are not comparing the situation with that," Sparisci insists. "It's a different thing.

"At the moment, nobody here in Italy resents these statements by Vettel. Ferrari is so weak that Vettel is the least of our problems."

Another highly respected F1 correspondent, Roger Benoit, agrees with Sparisci that Vettel will see out the entire season.

When considering if Vettel and Ferrari will split before the contractual end, he said: "In normal circumstances, yes. But the cloth was cut some time ago.

"Ferrari has bet on Leclerc, while Vettel feels alone in the team, losing more and more confidence and now he begins to complain," Benoit wrote in Blick newspaper.

"However, the team needs every point in the championship, and there is no quick replacement for 2020 in sight."