'Never understood': F1 great's confusion about Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull exit

Daniel Ricciardo’s arrival at Red Bull Racing marked a huge shift in the F1 team’s ambitions - as well as those of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Arriving at the team in 2014, Ricciardo won three races in his first season alongside the German world champion.

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The wily Australian well and truly outshined Vettel that year, who after winning his fourth consecutive world championship one year earlier, failed to win any races in 2014.

It was a curious development even at the time, but now former F1 driver turned commentator Martin Brundle has suggested there was more at play.

Vettel partnered with Ricciardo only for that 2014 season, before making the switch from Red Bull to Ferrari.

He was only able to do so by triggering an exit clause in his Red Bull contract - a move Brundle believes was engineered on purpose.

“I never understood Seb’s awful season, when Ricciardo arrived,” he told F1 Racing magazine.

“He kept on about how he hated the hybrid cars – but when he got to Ferrari he was immediately on the pace.

“I’ve always wondered if he went slowly in 2014 because he needed to trigger his Red Bull exit clause.

“Whatever, he had to leave, because another year like that with Danny Ricc, and his value would have dropped to almost nothing.”

Sebastian Vettel’s future at Ferrari uncertain

With Vettel robbed of the opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing 2019 campaign, speculation has been rife about his future in F1.

There has been some talk the German superstar might have retired at the conclusion of the 2020 season, which is now on hold due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Despite this, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said the iconic team missed Vettel’s presence amid the shutdown.

“I don’t think the interruption is suiting either driver as they all really love racing as it is part of their lives,” he told Sky Sports.

“I know that Sebastian is missing normality and misses that we are not on track racing, he would like to be back as soon as possible but we need to do that when everything is gone and we are back to normality.

“I think his desire is to race at any moment, Seb is a genuine and straightforward person. He loves his job and that is one of the reasons why as Ferrari we love and appreciate him so much.”