Sebastian Vettel says he has not yet considered opening contract negotiations with Ferrari, instead insisting his main focus lies on the remaining four races of 2016 and preparing for 2017.
The German denied a rift with Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month, after the Italian caused a stir when he said Vettel "must earn" his place at the team when his contract runs out at the end of next season.
When asked if he expects to start negotiations over a new deal soon, the four-time world champion replied: "I think we are all fairly busy at this time to focus on the four races that we have left and focus in particular to prepare for next year, I think honestly that's where the main focus lies.
"I don't think it's that important to look into details, my contract is obviously all fine for next year so as I said, with a lot of things happening back in the factory, back in Maranello, I know that we are very, very busy -- that's also where I want the focus to be."
Ferrari had hoped to challenge Mercedes for the title this year but has only managed a handful of podiums in 2016, and has failed to replicate the three wins it achieved in 2015, which has led to criticism of the Marenello-based outfit's strategy calls this season. Following fresh questions regarding Ferrari's strategy in Suzuka, Vettel insisted he was happy with the gamble his team took.
"It's one of those things with hindsight it's easier to analyse but in the moment, we were in third, probably fourth place because we didn't have the pace that Lewis had behind so I know there wasn't much focus at that time on him.
"The main focus was to get second initially with Max, and we tried something different. It might have worked, then you come out as the hero in that case, it didn't work so it's fine, I think we can live with that."
Vettel added that he feels confident Ferrari has now found the right direction to follow as it prepares for the drastic regulation changes being introduced for 2017.
"I think it was a step forward. Both Kimi and myself we liked it straight away and I think it gave us quite good performance in Japan, and Japan is usually quite a good test for the overall performance of the car. There's always some things we learn, next year the rules are changing quite a lot, but still every bit you understand about the car and how it works will help you for the future."