Vettel 'has contract until 2017' - Lauda

Mar.4 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel may have quietly added another two years to his existing Red Bull contract.

Last year, whilst already tied to the Austrian squad for 2014, it was announced that the German had extended his deal to also include the 2015 season.

"Hopefully the relationship will go beyond 2015, which is already some way into the future," team boss Christian Horner said at the time.

Now, despite the depth of Red Bull's early-2014 technical crisis, it appears that 26-year-old Vettel may indeed have stretched his tenure with the Milton Keynes based team even further.

The news emerged as Austrians Dr Helmut Marko, the Red Bull director, and Mercedes' Niki Lauda light-heartedly discussed the future during Monday's Sport und Talk programme on Servus TV.

Marko jokingly revealed that team chairman Lauda is keen to lure Vettel and car designer Adrian Newey to Mercedes.

"Niki comes every day and asks if Newey and Sebastian will go," he said.

Lauda replied: "But you always tell me that Newey and Sebastian have contracts until 2017."

"Right," confirmed Marko. "So why do you keep coming every day?"

Lauda beamed: "Breakfast!"

Whether the references to 2017 revealed some impending announcements, or were simply a joke between Austrian friends and rivals, is unclear.