Sebastian Vettel will be happy to have Daniel Ricciardo at Ferrari next year

Sebastian Vettel has jumped in on those ‘Ricciardo to Ferrari’ rumours by making a statement that treads that line of being ‘outright controversial’.

The rumour mill last week stated that Ricciardo had already signed a pre-contract with Ferrari, meaning that Raikkonen could be pushed out next season.

Ferrari’s strategies already seem a little skewed towards Vettel, as Raikkonen was forced to go on with deteriorating tyres in China, while Vettel switched onto a fresh pair as soon as those soft tyres showed little signs of deterioration.

Raikkonen though feels that he is being treated equally as far as he knows, and that is happy with how he is performing as a driver this season.

Ricciardo too has rubbished rumours of a pre-contract with Ferrari, also taking a dig at their working environment.

However, Vettel’s recent statements have fuelled that rumour mill once again, as he is open to having the Australian as his teammate next year.

The duo have worked together whilst Vettel was still at Red Bull in the year 2014 and feels that Ricciardo is a good teammate to have.

“I don’t mind,” Vettel said, when asked if he would enjoy the company of Ricciardo at Ferrari.

“We worked in the past for one year which was a scrappy year for me.

“In general I’ve known him for a long time, he’s a good kid. Obviously he had a good race in China, it’s good for people to see.”

If Ricciardo does indeed move to Ferrari, will that be the end of Kimi Raikkonen in Formula 1?