Max Verstappen says no doors have been closed by Ferrari announcing a new three-year deal with Sebastian Vettel over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
The 19-year-old is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2019, but that has not stopped speculation linking him to a move to Maranello at an earlier date. Verstappen's recent frustrations with Red Bull's reliability has helped build a foundation for those rumours, but Vettel's new deal -- combined with Kimi Raikkonen remaining on a one-year contract for 2018 -- hints at Ferrari's commitment to the German as its lead driver until at least 2020.
Asked whether he was surprised by the length of Vettel's new deal, Verstappen said: "Oh no, I think he did well for that. Another three years. It's good for him."
It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Verstappen could join Vettel at Ferrari in 2020 and the Dutch teenager insists nothing has changed as a result of the recent announcement.
"There are no doors closed," he added. "I haven't thought about it yet. To be honest it doesn't matter who is next to me in whatever team. But I'm not thinking about that yet."
Verstappen's teammate Daniel Ricciardo has also been linked to a move to Ferrari and his Red Bull contract is due to expire a year earlier at the end of 2018. But Ricciardo believes the rumours linking him to Maranello are coming more from the media than the Italian team itself.
"When I do get asked the Ferrari question I feel it is more coming from fans or media but not necessary from Ferrari," he said. "Maybe people want to see it, some people, but the people that matter I am not really sure if they do. We will see."
Ricciardo said it was no surprise to see Vettel extend his contract over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
"Once I saw that they had extended Kimi's deal, I was not surprised [to see Vettel sign too]. I knew that was a bit of insurance for Seb, having Kimi there, I know he is comfortable with that. So once Kimi was signed, I knew Seb would be on a few-years deal.
"Look, at the same time, he is leading [the championship] and they are in a really good position, so it was fairly obvious. The only other place he would have gone was Mercedes, and I think they are going to keep what they have by the looks of it."