Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said on Tuesday that Sebastian Vettel is their first choice to partner with Charles Leclerc in 2021. Binotto's statement came in despite speculations that they wanted six-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton,to join the team.

Vettel went through a disappointing and difficult 2019 season. He was regularly outperformed by teammate Leclerc. The young Monegasque showed spectacular class during his first year at Ferrari. In December, Ferrari extended their contract with Leclerc until the end of 2024. The 32-year-old German will be out of contract with Ferrari at the end of 2020.

Hamilton's contract with Formula One champions Mercedes is also in a similar stage. Last year, he had met Ferrari chairman John Elkann. However, it is expected that the F1 Champion will stay with Mercedes.

During the launch of Ferrari's new SF1000 car, Binotto spoke with the reporters and revealed that Vettel remains very much a part of the team's future planning, although it seems he no longer has a clear number one status. Last season, Vettel started as the clear number one for Ferrari.

Binotto said, "Seb is our first choice at the moment. Obviously, it is something we are discussing with him and we will continue discussing, but he is certainly our first option, our preference. We are focused on our drivers. And we are considering Seb as our option at the moment."

Binotto was also asked whether he would rule out Hamilton, to which he refused to give a clear answer. Hamilton is expected to become the all-time highest-paid Formula One driver in case he stays at Mercedes. Journalists further asked if he looks at Hamilton as a "fallback option," Binotto rejected such theories.

Ferrari Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari Sebastian Vettel Carl de Souza/AFP

Vettel was asked whether he wants to stay at Ferrari for a seventh successive season, given his age. He replied that age is not a factor and highlighted the fact that Hamilton is older than him.

The 35-year-old Briton has an opportunity to equal Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher's record of seven F1 championship titles. The Brit also has 84 race victories to his name, which is seven behind the German F1 legend's unprecedented 91 wins. That record might be broken this year.