Arrivabene tells Vettel to focus on driving for Ferrari future

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Maurizio Arrivabene says Sebastian Vettel needs to focus on his driving to secure his future with the team beyond the end of his contract.

Vettel's contract currently runs until the end of the 2017 season, and the German recently came under fire from the Italian media for his performances this season following his retirement on the opening lap in Malaysia. Ferrari team principal Arrivabene says Vettel is no different to any other team member in having to earn his place at Ferrari beyond the end of his current contract.

“Sebastian now has a contract with us," Arrivabene told Sky Sports Italia. "We work together this year and again next year. Then during the next season, we’ll see.

“Each of us has goals, I have them, the team has them, Sebastian has them, we all have them. So it is only right that anyone, no matter who it is, earns their place and their salary.”

And Arrivabene says Vettel is interested in many aspects of the team but advised the four-time world champion to not get distracted from performing on track.

“I do not think that we can conquer people with [contract] renewals,” Arrivabene said when asked if it would look to boost Vettel by giving him a new deal as it used to with Michael Schumacher. "Today a lot of things are changed, what had worked with Michael might not necessarily work with Sebastian.

“Sebastian just needs to focus on the car. He is a person who gives so much, and sometimes this means he is interested in a bit of everything. Sometimes you have to re-focus him, remind him to be focused on the main job.”

Vettel won three races during his first season for Ferrari in 2015, but the team has failed to secure a single victory so far this year and currently sits third in the constructors' championship behind Mercedes and Red Bull.

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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.