Sebastian Vettel inks three-year contract with Ferrari

London, August 26: Sebastian Vettel ended speculation about his immediate F1 future signing a three-year contract extension with Ferrari on Saturday (August 26).

The Italian team said the new deal covered the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons but gave no further details.

There will be inevitable questions about possible release clauses, not to mention speculation about how many tens of millions of dollars the 30-year-old German will be earning over the period.

The four-times champion is 14 points clear of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in the current standings, with nine races remaining.

The German had been out of contract at the end of this season and there had been speculation about a possible switch to Mercedes -- a shock move that would have sent a tremor through the paddock.

Hamilton, a triple world champion who has one more year left on his Mercedes contract, laughed off that possibility.

Vettel's Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen, the 37-year-old 2007 world champion, has already agreed a contract extension for 2018, keeping Ferrari's line-up unchanged for next year.