Mondial 2012 set to roll in Dubai

Sebastian Vettel has dampened speculation he is set to jump ship from Red Bull and join Ferrari in 2014 by saying he is “extremely committed” to the team who helped him claim a third consecutive Formula One title on Sunday. The exact nature of Vettel’s contract with Red Bull is unclear, but the German driver said he was tied to the constructor until the end of 2014. Speculation has surrounded Vettel’s future at Red Bull since Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali said in June the 25-year-old and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso could “easily co-exist together.” Alonso, a double world champion who was narrowly beaten to the title by Vettel in Brazil on Sunday, has a contract with the Italian team until the end of 2016 and is very much the number one in the current lineup with Brazilian Felipe Massa. “I have a contract until — I think you know better than me — at this stage, until the end of ‘14,” Vettel told reporters. “I’m very happy with what we have achieved so far and I don’t think this story is over yet. I’m very happy and extremely committed to give everything I have, also in the next years when I’m with them. “At the moment, I don’t see any point thinking about another team or something else. I’m extremely happy in the position I am. It’s incredible what we have achieved.” Massa’s Ferrari contract runs until the end of next year. Vettel hailed his third title as his most difficult having found it harder to assert himself in a topsy-turvy season that began with seven different winners in the first seven races. Singapore proved the turning point and Vettel went on to win four races in a row to take the lead from Alonso in South Korea. “In that way, I think it was (the hardest title) because people tried everything, inside the lines, outside the lines, to beat us and the amount of questions we had to deal with, stuff we had to deal with throughout the season didn’t make our lives easier but the key was to remain ourselves and I think that made the difference in a way,” he said. Fernando Alonso says Ferrari must improve its car to be able to contend for the Formula One title again next season. Alonso said he needed the best season of his career to stay in the hunt until the final race, the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, when he finished second but still lost the title to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel by three points. Alonso said “we were too slow” and we “cannot fight for a world championship if we are too slow.” He said Ferrari may not “be this lucky in the future” if it can’t get more pace out of the car in comparison to Red Bull and McLaren next season. Full throttle celebrations follow Vettel’s win In Berlin, Germany is toasting Sebastian Vettel after the 25-year-old driver claimed his third straight Formula One championship title on Sunday. Mass circulation daily newspaper Bild proclaimed Vettel a “race icon” yesterday after the German became the sports youngest three-time champion. On Sunday, Vettel’s home town of Heppenheim in southwestern Germany became “Vettelheim” as around 2,000 fans gathered in front of giant screens to watch him finish sixth in the Brazilian Grand Prix, enough to clinch the title. It prompted celebrations marked by cars honking their horns, customary beer showers, fireworks and flag-waving lasting long into the night. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Vettel had assured himself of “his place in history” and she congratulated him on his “marvelous nerves of steel.” Merkel added that she was particularly impressed with how he “fought back to win the title after a difficult start to the season.” Vettel is the first driver to win three titles in a row since compatriot Michael Schumacher won five straight from 2000-04.