“I very much hope he will stay with us. The next few weeks will show. He has to make a decision,” team principal Mike Krack told the Beyond the Grid podcast last week. “He still has years ahead of him where he can be successful if he has a car that can do it.” At the moment, however, Vettel does not have such a car and unfortunately for the Aston Martin F1 team, at 11am UK time Sebastian Vettel officially announced his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of this season.
The four-time world champion’s contract with the British racing team owned by Canadian billionaire, Lawrence Stroll, expires at the end of this year. Smoke and mirrors prevailed despite this website maintaining that Vettel intended to quit by the end of this season, Vettel recently appeared to suggest at the French Grand Prix that he wants to continue driving beyond this season.
“Oh yes, he definitely does,” Krack replied positively when asked if the Heppenheimer still loved racing. Vettel still has that “fire in his eyes”.
Yet, since the start of the season, Aston Martin has been struggling to develop a car that is competitive enough to compete for top ten places. This website broke the news back in January after factory whistleblowers contacted us.
Friend of Vettel, Timo Glock, warned that his fellow countryman had enough of the Aston Martin debacle. Certainly the latest failed Aston Martin ‘B spec’ car which debuted in Spain, confirmed the team is still in disarray.
“I imagine Vettel losing patience at some point soon, because he knows how long it takes to get out of such a bad patch.” said Glock back in April,
“That’s why the question is whether he is still motivated to race. Now we have to wait for the next few races to see if he is motivated and what he decides next for his future,” the former Toyota F1 driver thought.
Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin’s owner, quickly paid tribute to Vettel:
“I want to thank Sebastian from the bottom of my heart for the great work that he has done for Aston Martin over the past year and a half,” said Stroll.
“We made it clear to him that we wanted him to continue with us next year, but in the end he has done what he feels is right for himself and his family, and of course we respect that.”
“He has driven some fantastic races for us, and, behind the scenes, his experience and expertise with our engineers have been extremely valuable.
“He is one of the all-time greats of Formula 1, and it has been a privilege to have been able to work with him.
“He will continue to race for us up to and including the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will be his 300th Grand Prix entry. We will give him a fabulous send-off.”
I guess you should have stayed at Red Bull.
Top bloke and a top driver – good luck to him and his family in whatever he decides to do next. Thanks Seb!!!
After so many years of racing in F1, he must be quite well off, so that’s one worry off his head. He is still young and can find something gainful to do, like training new young kids to race. This will also open the door for some young talents knocking on the doors of F1 for a drive. It must be quite frustrating for them to wait interminably.
Thank you Seb, for all the enjoyment you afforded us.
While I never ruled out this possibility, I was still wholly positive the whole time he’d continue based on likelihood & gut feeling. Ultimately my prediction & expectation proved wrong.
The only surprising thing is the timing, though, as I expected either outcome (continuation or discontinuation) to become official during the summer break or in September, not sooner.
Too bad. He was more or less the conscience of the drivers. I wonder if that issue he had with FIA (when he walked out of the drivers meeting and got fined for it publicly) was the last drop in the bucket….
Vettel will go to work for Porsche/RB as an advisor.
He will spend this year lobbying for Mick to go to Aston Martin to save his career. AM wont want him as a driver, but they will want him to boost german car sales.
Sounds plausible