Vettel dismisses McLaren talk – Pitpass.com

Sebastian Vettel has dismissed speculation linking him with a shock move to McLaren.

Quite why anyone would seriously contemplate such a thought aside, the fact is that with continued speculation about Daniel Ricciardo’s future with the team all manner of names are being bandied about.

Nevertheless, when asked about the rumors today, as the French Grand Prix weekend got underway, the four-time champ was quick to dismiss them.

I think Lando has a contract,” he joked, before getting serious. “No, I know some people there but I think it’s just rumours.”

While Team boss, Zak Brown has since played down the comments that first put Ricciardo’s future at Woking in doubt, his actions since then, including a test drive for Colton Herta and the recruitment of IndyCar champ Alex Palou, have only added fuel to the fire .

So much so that the Australian was forced to take to social media to issue a defiant ‘I’m staying put’ message.

With Aston Martin boss, Mike Krack admitting that talks with Vettel about his future will take place after the summer break, when asked his plans, the German continued to joke.

“Well I’m racing this weekend, and the next one,” he laughed.

“Obviously, I’ve said that at some point we’ll start to talk and I’m talking to the team,” he added. “I think there is a clear intention to keep going and we’ll see soon where we stand.”

While the team is understood to want to retain him, it is understood that Vettel is seeking a significant step forward in performance before he commits himself, currently the Silverstone-based outfit is ninth in the standings.

“We brought an update to Silverstone that we didn’t fully get on top of yet,” he admitted, “and maybe this week will help us to get a little bit more answers.

“I hope we can be a little bit more competitive, back in the midfield and therefore that bit more back in the mix. That would be nice.”

Check out our Thursday gallery from Le Castellet here.