Mercedes has not made an offer to Sebastian Vettel since wanting to pair the young German with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in 2009.
With the German marque now having its own team Mercedes GP, competition director Norbert Haug was playing down speculation he recently moved to poach the reigning world champion before he re-committed to Red Bull for the next four years.
"He (Vettel) got the (Mercedes) offer in 2009," Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko said in a joint Sport Bild interview with Haug.
Haug confirmed: "Right. Since then, there was no more (offers)."
He thinks 23-year-old Vettel was right to sign a long contract with Red Bull, while "Red Bull would have made a big mistake not to secure him for the long term".
"They are able to offer him the very best equipment at the moment and we’re not quite there," acknowledged Haug.