Di Montezemolo tries his hand at poaching?

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Adrian Newey, Dietrich Mateschitz, Luca di Montezemolo, Red Bull Racing, Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo has made no bones about wanting to sign newly-crowned Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel to his team’s driving roster in the future.

While Vettel was fighing for championship contention during the mid-season in 2010, the 23-year-old German described Ferrari as “special” and asked rhetorically: “Why not go there in a few years?”

Vettel has been held under a long-term contract with the Red Bull group for some years, and his current contract expires at the end of 2011, with the team having an option on his services for 2012.

Cologne’s Express newspaper has reported that di Montezemolo sees Vettel as a natural fit at the Scuderia, claiming: “Sebastian is fast, intelligent and young. He will drive a red car sooner or later.”

But Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz might have other ideas, and will no doubt having little hesitation to dig deep into his coffers if Vettel ever considered jumping ship to Ferrari.

“Seb wants to drive for Ferrari some day,” the Austrian billionaire acknowledged. “We will make it as difficult a decision for him as possible.”

The newspaper also claims that di Montezemolo also made an approach to Red Bull Racing’s chief designer Adrian Newey to the Scuderia, but that Newey had knocked back the offer.

[Original images via AutoMotorBlog and Bruno Mantovani]