Official: Sebastian Vettel to leave Ferrari at the end of 2020 season

German driver is a four-time world champion but has not won a title since moving to the Italian team

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  Sebastian Vettel during media day ahead of the 2020 season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Sebastian Vettel in action during qualifying for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Sebastian Vettel, right, on the podium with Max Verstappen, left, and Lewis Hamilton, centre, after the Hungarian Grand Prix. EPA

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  Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton tussle during the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Sebastian Vettel during pre-season testing in Barcelona. Reuters

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  Sebastian Vettel takes part in practice for the French Grand Prix. Getty Images

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  Sparks fly from Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari during the 2019 Brahrain Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc during a photo session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Getty Images

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  Sebastian Vettel arrives for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Victor Besa / The National

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  Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen talk before the United States Grand Prix. Getty Images

Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel will leave Ferrari at the end of the season, the Italian team announced on Tuesday.

"This is a decision taken jointly by ourselves and Sebastian, one which both parties feel is for the best," team principal Mattia Binotto said in a statement.

"It was not an easy decision to reach, given Sebastian’s worth as a driver and as a person."

Vettel, who joined in 2015 with the dream of emulating boyhood hero Michael Schumacher in winning titles with the sport's oldest and most glamorous team, is out of contract at the end of the year.

Where the 32-year-old German will go now, and indeed whether he will remain in a sport whose delayed season has yet to start due to the Covid-19 pandemic, are the big questions.

"The team and I have realised that there is no longer a common desire to stay together beyond the end of this season," Vettel said.

"Financial matters have played no part in this joint decision. That’s not the way I think when it comes to making certain choices and it never will be.

"What’s been happening in these past few months has led many of us to reflect on what are our real priorities in life."

Vettel said he would now take time "to reflect on what really matters when it comes to my future".

German media, who flagged up the departure on Monday night, reported Vettel had rejected the terms being offered by Ferrari.

Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper recently reported Vettel, who won 14 races with the team and is their third most successful driver, had been offered a one-year extension with a salary reduction.

The German, who won his titles with Red Bull, told reporters last month he could have a new deal done before the start of a season delayed by the coronavirus outbreak.

Ferrari had also said the German was their first choice to partner Charles Leclerc.

Binotto said there was no one reason that led to the split "apart from the common and amicable belief that the time had come to go our separate ways in order to reach our respective objectives".

Leclerc, who won two races last year and is only 22, has a contract until 2024 and is seen as Ferrari's future and likely first champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

The Monegasque outperformed Vettel last year in his first season at Ferrari, finishing ahead of him overall and taking more points, poles, podiums and wins.

Soon after the news of Vettel's exit was confirmed, Leclerc praised his teammate for everything he has learned since joining Ferrari.

Leclerc and Vettel famously clashed at the Brazilian Grand Prix - both on the track and afterwards in the media - although the Monaco native insists there is no bad blood.

"It's been a huge honor for me to be your teammate," Leclerc wrote on Twitter. "We've had some tense moments on tracks. Some very good ones and some others that didn't end as we both wanted, but there was always respect, even though it wasn't perceive this way from the outside.

"I've never learnt so much as I did with you as my teammate. Thank you for everything Seb."

Australian Daniel Ricciardo, at Renault, and McLaren's Spaniard Carlos Sainz have been installed as the leading candidates to take one of the most coveted seats on the grid.

Six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton has also been linked to Ferrari but has repeatedly indicated he intends to stay with Mercedes