The future of Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari is suddenly in doubt.

That is the claim of Luigi Perna, a respected correspondent for the respected Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Perna said that with Vettel’s title hopes in tatters despite having a match for Mercedes‘ car this year, the German is losing support and increasingly “isolated” at Maranello.

He suggested that if Vettel also fails to win in 2019 with the best car, termination clauses in his contract could lead to his exit before the 2020 season.

Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene said at the Festival dello Sport event earlier this week: “I am sure that sooner or later he will bring the title back here.”

Vettel is currently trying to salvage something from a championship that is already out of his hands.

The team initially started the season off in a strong manner, but mistakes soon crept in. That was when Mercedes capitalised and Lewis Hamilton surged ahead.

Ferrari have not been helping their own case either, with numerous strategic blunders. Even Vettel himself was not immune to making mistakes and shot himself in the foot, in the process.

According to former F1 boss, Flavio Briatore, Vettel was far too focused on wins rather than the bigger picture. He said, “Vettel is not winning the championship, he’s winning races and it doesn’t work like that. If you lose out in three or four opportunities like that, it’s 25 points thrown away every time and it’s becoming very difficult after that mentally.

“I believe the stress you have as a driver is enormous and if you’re in the position to handle the stress and do the job and not go out [retire from races], you’re winning. Because when you go out, it’s the worst possible scenario – we know that.”

Hamilton’s former teammate, Nico Rosberg said, “It’s all about finding marginal gains. For me I realised that lots of little things can add up to a very big thing, if you get them all working the right way.”

“This season [for Vettel] has been a little crazy. He should be in the position to win the title right now and that’s got to be tough to take for anyone, especially when the mistakes have been your own and not the team’s. I don’t know if this is the best Lewis has ever driven but when he’s competing at the level we are seeing right now only a completely flawless performance is going to beat him most weekends and that’s tough when you’re on the back foot or you’re worried about making more mistakes.”