Former Ferrari stars expect Vettel to stay at Maranello

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Former Ferrari drivers Jean Alesi and Mika Salo agree that Sebastian Vettel will re-sign for the Scuderia in the near future.

Kimi Raikkonen has already been confirmed as staying with the team for another season. Some pundits expressed surprise that the announcement hadn't also revealed a new contract for Vettel.

But Alesi insisted that the lack of new about Vettel's situation didn't mean there were any problems with negotiations.

"I think Vettel will renew as well," Alesi told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"He is very much a loved Ferrari driver," he added. "We are talking about a guy who really loves driving. He is a real point of reference for the whole environment at Ferrari.

"Ferrari made giant strides this year," Alesi continued. "It now has a winning car on almost every circuit. And then there is the team spirit that is the great work of [team principal] Maurizio Arrivabene and [president] Sergio Marchionne.

"The decision to keep Kimi consolidates this atmosphere, as neither Vettel nor Kimi is jealous of the other."

Ferrari extends Raikkonen's contract for 2018

Indeed, it had been previously reported that one of Vettel's conditions for re-signing was that Raikkonen was retained as well.

"I also think it's true that if there is a driver other than Seb at Ferrari in 2018, he will also have no problems with Kimi," added Alesi.

The 53-year-old drove for Ferrari for five seasons in the 1990s. He said it that it was too soon for junior drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc to be promoted into Formula 1.

Finnish driver Mika Salo - who was on the podium twice for Ferrari in 1999 - agreed that Vettel's new deal was a formality.

"There's not really any other place for Vettel," Salo told Finnish broadcaster MTV. "And I believe Raikkonen staying was one of Vettel's demands.

"They are a good pair," he added. "Ferrari had no better option. And Kimi would not have continued if he doesn't believe his pace is still there."

Salo added that he hoped the early confirmation of Raikkonen's new contract would help his compatriot when it came to 2018.

"I hope he is able to be right there from the beginning of the season," he said. "For some reason, the Ferrari cars have not been great for Kimi from the very start of a season."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.