Sebastian Vettel says he will not be attending the Mercedes debrief on Friday because he doesn't want to be involved in a PR stunt.
Nico Rosberg invited Vettel to the Mercedes debrief following an exchange at the Malaysian Grand Prix, with the invitation being extended over social media. However, Vettel believes it's simply an attempt for Mercedes to gain some positive coverage after he mocked Rosberg and says he won't be attending as a result.
“I think when I was joking with Nico in the press conference the deal was the invite was for all the paddock," Vettel said. "Now it seems the invite has shrunk to just me. Initially I think it was called off by Niki [Lauda] and Toto [Wolff], now they’ve told [Rosberg] yes so I think they are using it now as a bit more of a PR thing rather than a proper invite, so the answer is no.”
Asked if the decision not to attend was made by him or Ferrari, Vettel said it was never a serious consideration for him in the first place.
“It wasn’t really discussed to be honest. Initially it was called off and then I think they tried to use it as ‘Ah yeah, we are so friendly and open to everyone’. Even if I went there, do you think they would really open up?
"That means I won’t go, because even if I go it’s all staged.”
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