Vettel in no rush to decide on future

Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Vettel says he is still happy to take his career just one step at a time, after revealing that he was in contention over the winter for a race seat with McLaren this year.

The 20-year-old German, who finished seventh on his debut for BMW at Indianapolis last year and then finished fourth for Toro Rosso in China, held talks with Red Bull chiefs over the winter about the McLaren offer but in the end was denied the chance to leave.

Despite the fact a move to McLaren would have handed Vettel a golden chance to race at the front of the field, he has said he is happy with his current chance at Toro Rosso and Red Bull`s decision to keep hold of him.

“They talked about me and I was involved,” said Vettel about the discussions between himself and Red Bull over the McLaren offer. “In the end, it didn`t happen. So there are no complications.”

When asked by autosport.com about how serious the McLaren offer was, Vettel said: “I think it was serious. I was not in a Mercedes dealership and somebody asked me! People were serious.”

Speculation has already linked Vettel with future drives at Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, but he has made it clear that he is not getting distracted by all the interest in him.

“There are too many things going on!” he said. “To be honest, I don`t read that much and I don`t worry.

“I`m here to race now and everything I did in the past and everything I do in the future, I`ve learned from my father basically, to do things step by step.

“Of course, at some point you think what should I do, what could I do? But now, it`s far too early to think about it.

“One day, the target is to be in a big team in order to win the championship. That is my target; otherwise I would stand up, go home and start learning something properly.

“I mean, in the end it`s difficult. I feel ready to race, ready to do the job, and it doesn`t really make a big difference if it`s a small team or a big one. At the end of the day, the attitude and behaviour is the same.”

3.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Vettel    ▪ www.autosport.com