Vettel: I'll quit F1 whenever I want

Sebastian Vettel has publicly addressed the rumours regarding his possible retirement at the end of the season, insisting that he is still determined to find championship success with Ferrari.

The rumours surfaced following the Monaco Grand Prix under two weeks ago, where Mercedes picked up its sixth consecutive victory in 2019.

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Earlier this week, the four-time world champion denied the rumours to German media, but opened up again on the matter in Canada.

"I think I can stop whenever I want, and the team can probably kick me out whenever they want, but I'm very happy with the team and I hope the team is happy with myself," Vettel said.

"I'm very hungry and I have a mission here to win. That's really the only thing that matters to me, winning with Ferrari, and that's what I'm working for. Currently, we're not winning, you can do the maths, so we still have something to do."

Vettel, who lives a more private life compared to some of his fellow drivers, says that he is not bothered by media conjuring assumptions about him and his F1 career.

"I don't know who made it up, I don't think I said anything to lead to that conclusion. I'm not really bothered. I understand that some part of your job is to try not to make things up, but try to come up with something interesting.

"It doesn't bother me, you do what you want and I do what I want."

Ferrari must soon find a solution to keep title hope alive

Ferrari's hopes of securing a title in 2019 are rapidly diminishing as Mercedes continues to dominate the season, taking five one-two finishes so far.

Vettel admits that he knows Ferrari must get on top of the situation soon in order to take the fight back to Mercedes and take its first title in over a decade.

"The next races will be really crucial for us trying to get back to the front and give a much harder time to Mercedes," stated Vettel.

"Once we can establish that, then we have plenty of reason to look forward. It will be crucial to do it sooner rather than later, but at the moment I'm not too fussed at looking at 'this is the date it has to happen'.

"Clearly we are behind, clearly there is quite a big margin between Mercedes and the rest, Mercedes and also ourselves, so we have to close that gap and get ahead, otherwise it will be difficult to turn it around."