'Sometimes silence is more powerful' - Furious Ferrari slams door on Verstappen

Ferrari has slammed the door shut to Max Verstappen.

At the Maranello team's end of season dinner, bosses Mattia Binotto and Louis Camilleri confirmed that Sebastian Vettel's 2021 seat may be up for grabs.

But the talk was mainly about Lewis Hamilton, as Binotto swept away any lingering speculation that Fernando Alonso might return to a red cockpit.

"We have talked about him, but he no longer sits with our plans," the team boss said.

As for Verstappen, Camilleri is still furious with the Dutchman after he accused Ferrari of "cheating" with its 2019 engine.

"These declarations generally don't take you very far," he said of the Red Bull-Honda driver who is not ruling out a change of teams for 2021.

"Max is 22 years old, so why give him credibility when we are Ferrari?" Camilleri added.  "Sometimes silence is more powerful."

Elsewhere, Italian publications quoted Camilleri as having said: "A driver who accuses Ferrari of cheating cannot think of being with us.

"Mattia said we had FIA inspectors everywhere.  His (Verstappen's) words created all sorts of problems within the team."