Vettel may leave Red Bull if it is not competitive

Dietrich Mateschitz has invited Sebastian Vettel to sign a long-term contract, guaranteeing him a competitive car every season.
The new world champion only has a contract until the end of next season, and last week he described Ferrari and Mercedes as "the past, the present and certainly the future of Formula One".
“But this step is still a long way off,” he wrote in an article in the Bild newspaper.
Red Bull boss Mateschitz believes his team will be safe from a Vettel breakaway as long as he puts a competitive car in the young German's hands.
“If we are not able to, we would let him go even if he had a contract,” he told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
Mateschitz also declared to the Cologne tabloid Express: “Seb will want to drive for Ferrari one day. We will make sure that this decision is as difficult as possible for him."
Helmut Marko was on the podium with Vettel in Abu Dhabi, and he too says that the appeal that Ferrari has on a young driver is strong.
But the Austrian doesn't believe that the Italian team wants to annoy Fernando Alonso by putting Vettel in the garage next to him, at least not in the short term.
“We all know Ferrari's political sensitivity. And he (Vettel) saw that he is in a comfortable position with us. He needs a team that doesn't stab you in the back at the first sign of difficulty,” said Marko, Red Bull motorsports consultant.
“Let's be clear: we are not thinking of a ten-year contract, because we are not able to guarantee that we will have a competitive car for that long. And not even Sebastian can guarantee that he will always be happy with us. But in the medium term, that is, the next three or four years, we are seriously planning to stay with him,” he said.

Filippo Ronchetti