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Ferrari not ready to talk 2018 contracts

Ferrari refuse to comment on the contractual status of their Formula 1 drivers.

Ferrari have refused to comment on the contractual status of their Formula 1 drivers.

Both championship leader Sebastian Vettel and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen are out of contract at the end of the year.

Many believe that German Vettel will obviously stay in 2018, while there have been reports that Ferrari are now considering a new one-year deal for Finn Raikkonen.

Yet Vettel said in Canada that he is fully focused on the title campaign at present, and it is a sentiment echoed by his boss Maurizio Arrivabene.

"We are not thinking about contracts now, we are thinking about the championship," said the Italian.

"As I have said many times, we are all working together, including the drivers, we are very focused on our job and I have to say the contract is not an issue."

Arrivabene also played down suggestions that Ferrari had decided on a clear driver hierarchy for the rest of 2017, particularly amid suggestions that Raikkonen was deliberately disadvantaged through pit strategy in Monaco.

"As Ferrari we are looking to the constructors' championship," he said. "The drivers' championship is their job.

"They are free to do it until the numbers are going clearly in one direction or the other. In that case, we apply our rules of engagement. But not now, and not in Monaco."

Ferrari head into next weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix eight points behind leaders Mercedes.

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Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari looks on as he sits in the garage during final practice for the Formula One Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo di Monza on September 5, 2015
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