F1 News

Mattia Binotto says Sebastian Vettel still focused on winning F1 title at Ferrari

Mattia Binotto says Sebastian Vettel still focused on winning F1 title at Ferrari

16-08-2019 11:00
Author profile picture

Bobby Vincent

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has revealed Sebastian Vettel is still fully focused on winning the world championship with the Italian team despite rumours of the four-time world champion considering an exit from the sport.

Vettel has indicated numerous times in interviews that he may be retiring next season, but has always been quick to dismiss those rumours that he'll be leaving the sport in 2020.

Ferrari's season has been a shambles so far, with three pole positions, one from Vettel and two from his team-mate Charles Leclerc; the Maranello-based squad haven't converted one of those poles to a race win.

Binotto is adamant that Vettel's objective hasn't changed, though, and the German driver is still hopeful of becoming a world champion at Ferrari.

"I think that his objective hasn't changed - to become world champion with Ferrari," Binotto said to Autosport.com. "And he's got that objective very clear. Obviously the start of the season in that respect is frustrating, because it means for his final goal he's not in the best position to achieve it in 2019.

"But because he's got such a strong objective, he knows exactly what he's looking for. I think that is where he's finding his own boost, and that is not compromising anything, so he's clearly still pushing (very) much, because he knows where we need to go and he knows exactly what he's looking for."