SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Sebastian Vettel was happy to see Ferrari retain Kimi Raikkonen next year, even though he is not expecting any news on his own future for at least two weeks.
Raikkonen signed for another season at Ferrari earlier this week, continuing his rolling year by year deal with the Italian team. Vettel is also expected to remain at the team next year -- although no announcement has been made -- and said he is happy to remain alongside Raikkonen in 2018.
"If he's happy, I'm happy!" Vettel said. "I think it's the other way around as well. Obviously he's had a troubled start to the season. The last couple of races have been a bit better, but there's no discussion about his talent or his speed.
"It's nice to see that the team appreciates the work he is doing behind the scenes. As I said, it's quite straightforward to work with him. I think everybody who knows him knows he's quite straightforward in this regard. He's a good match, and obviously great to continue like that."
But Vettel does not think his opinion was a major factor in Ferrari's decision.
"They asked me, and I'm happy to keep going. I have no problem with Kimi, so if that influenced the decision you will have to ask Maurizio.
Vettel is coming to the end of a three-year contract with Ferrari this season and is currently negotiating a new deal with the team. Ferrari has made no secret of its desire to re-sign Vettel on a long-term contract, but the four-time world champion said there was no rush to announce a deal.
"At some point I think there will be news," he said. "The main focus now is not to focus on news, the main focus is to focus on the race -- and that will be the same next week. So I don't expect news in the next two weeks to be honest."