Vettel “not worried” about Aston Martin F1 future despite extension hold-up
Aston Martin has yet to officially announce its driver line-up for 2022 with Lance Stroll expected to remain with the team alongside Vettel.
The clause in Vettel’s contract has yet to be triggered but he isn’t keen to get into the details of his arrangement with Aston Martin.
Speaking ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, he said: “I think generally I’ve never really talked much about contracts. I think it also says in the contract you’re not supposed to talk about it so I am afraid I can’t give much more insight.
“As I said, we’re talking to each other. I really enjoy working with the team. I think the atmosphere is great and I do believe the future of this team is very, very bright. I am not worried. I feel like we will have an answer soon.”
During the Dutch GP weekend, a German report claimed that owner Lawrence Stroll had approached Fernando Alonso about driving for the team in place of Vettel.
Aston Martin denied the report, with team boss Otmar Szafnauer insisting it’s simply a matter of time before Vettel’s contract can be extended.
“It’s a one plus one contract,” Szafnauer said at Zandvoort. “And there’s certain dates within the contract that we have to decide by. Those dates haven’t come and gone yet, so it’s just normal process.
“It's nothing complicated, and it's not conditional upon anything. It’s a time window when the two of us discuss the future. There's a window and a deadline, and that's not far off.”
Aston Martin currently sits seventh in the constructors’ championship, 31 points behind AlphaTauri.
