-
ESPN staff
Sebastian Vettel says he has not entertained the possibility of quitting Formula One at the end of the year and believes he is still driving at the top of his game.
After missing out on the championship last year in a straight fight with Lewis Hamilton, Vettel currently sits fourth in the standings following a mixed start to the year with just one podium finish from three races. His Ferrari team showed great promise in pre-season testing but has not fulfilled that potential in races and has been criticised for a series of team orders that favoured Vettel over his emerging teammate Charles Leclerc.
With the pressure growing on Vettel to perform, former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone hinted that the four-time world champion could quit the sport to spend more time with his family. But Vettel, whose Ferrari contract runs to the end of 2020, says he is not considering hanging up his helmet just yet.
“I’m not going to be in Formula One as long as he was, that’s for sure,” Vettel said of Ecclestone. “But I hope I’m going to be as fit and as sharp as he is today when I’m hopefully that old.
“At the moment I feel on top of my game, I feel that I know what I’m doing and yeah, I’m very very self-critical, very ambitious and I put a lot of expectation on to myself.
“I love driving, I love the sensation of the speed, I love fighting with these guys so there’s a lot of things that at the moment I really like and I’ll miss.
“So that’s why it’s not an option to quit tomorrow, I’m quite happy to race. And then, yeah, I’ve got the contract but that’s a piece of paper and then we see what happens.”