F1 | Ferrari, Binotto: “Vettel is our first choice”

Present today with Sebastian Vettel at the FIA ​​press conference at Montmeló, where the fourth day of winter testing is taking place, Mattia binotto discussed various topics with journalists. Which also includes the renewal of Vettel, whose contract expires with Ferrari at the end of 2020.

As underlined a few weeks ago, at the presentation of the SF1000, the Ferrari team principal reiterated that the Scuderia will speak with the German to negotiate the renewal: "Lo we have already said in the past: Sebastian is our first choice Binotto said.. We are all aware that your contract will end this year, but we will soon start talking more calmly. The most important thing is sharing the project and our long-term vision. I'm sure we will come to an agreement very soon".

Binotto, continuing to talk about Vettel, then added: “I've known him for a long time, last season was important for us to get to know each other better. We don't have to find a hole in our agenda, the time will come when we start talking and share our future vision. The team has improved in recent years and Sebastian deserves a lot of credit. He has a lot of experience. He is a champion, a leader also with the engineers and with his teammate. He always tries to be the best and is important for the team".

The Italian-Swiss engineer, changing the subject and talking about the DAS device mounted by Mercedes on the new W11, said: “The DAS system is something we have considered in the past but have not designed and developed. We believed it couldn't work well for our single-seater concept. Let's see what the others will do. At the moment it's a question mark".

On the SF1000: We have no reliability concerns. “The car is faster in corners than on the straights. Mercedes is very strong and is the best".