Sir Jackie Stewart has urged
Sebastian Vettel to think twice about any opportunity he has to join Ferrari, warning the double champion that he would be walking into a very different situation to that which he currently enjoys at
Red Bull Racing.
Vettel has been the subject of
Ferrari rumours for much of the 2012 season, with reports linking him to a move to Maranello ahead of the 2014 season, once his current RBR deal comes to an end.
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali reckoned he would have no problem teaming the German with current Scuderia number one
Fernando Alonso [
see story here], but Stewart disagrees, believing that the Spaniard's position is so entrenched that Vettel would have his work cut out.
“I wouldn't [go to Ferrari] at this time,” the three-time champion admitted to
BBC commentator James Allen's podcast, "I think Alonso's far too strong for that. I think Alonso is so mature that he would see
anybody off because of the relationship he has already built within Ferrari."
With
Red Bull set to run an unchanged line-up for 2013, after
Mark Webber inked a one-year extension to his deal after the British Grand Prix, Stewart reckons that the Milton Keynes team will continue to be a force and Vettel would be better off remaining put, even if
Ferrari continues to be the team to be beat.
“I think it's much better to let that [urge to join Ferrari] pass for the moment and stay with
Red Bull because he's got a team of people that he knows intimately," he said, "[It is] really imperative for him to have [them] and they feel that it's imperative for them to have him, [and] I wouldn't break that mould at this time. In fact, I would almost wait until I had a very bad year before I would think of leaving. Then my option would be 'who am I going to get who is going to provide me with what I need' - and it may not necessarily be Ferrari.”