“It’s impossible to say”: Sebastian Vettel unsure if he would have chosen to retire had he been ‘more competitive’ in the last few years
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Sebastian Vettel at the Japanese GP (IMAGO / Action Plus)
Abu Dhabi will mark the (presumable) end of the career of one of the most successful drivers in Formula 1 history – Sebastian Vettel. The announcement itself came as a shock, but signs of the decision had seemed to be brewing for a long time, with a few rumours surrounding his future in the sport.
By no means has Vettel been bad in his last two years with the sport with Aston Martin. The truth is that the team have failed to make a step up, and being a four-time world champion, driving for a team which often also served as a backmarker this year cannot be a good feeling at all. But there’s no guarantee that the German wouldn’t have chosen to retire even if he was winning.
In a feature story on Aston Martin’s website, Sebastian Vettel opened up about his decision and his time in Formula 1, where he reaffirmed that he still loves the sport: “I still love the sport. I still love racing. The decision to retire was a tough one, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I know how much commitment this sport requires, and I feel like it’s a good time to do other things.”
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Sebastian Vettel: ‘We failed [to make a significant improvement in 2022]’
Sebastian Vettel was honest and forthcoming in his interview. He admitted that ‘we’ (the team) failed to make a step up. Aston Martin were P7 last year, the same place they are now: “They have been challenging because the car wasn’t as competitive as we hoped. This year, we wanted to make a significant improvement over last year. We failed. We’re currently where we finished last year.”
But the German is not trying to blame the team for not providing him with a better package: “I’m not pointing the finger and saying we did a bad job. I’m just being realistic. We had high hopes, but we fell short.” When asked if he regretted how things have transpired, Vettel denied it: “No, not at all. I don’t think it was a useless two years, even though the results and points we scored weren’t that useful or what we hoped for.”
Vettel could not say if he would have chosen to retire if his situation was better: “I don’t know. Would I be retiring if I had been very competitive over the last three or four years: winning races, fighting for championships – maybe winning another one? I might have come to the same decision. Equally, I might not have. It’s impossible to say, but it has crossed my mind.”
The German has taken 53 victories in Formula 1, and four championships. He, as of today, holds the joint record of the most wins in a Formula 1 season with his hero Michael Schumacher. This is precisely the reason why finishing 10th doesn’t give Vettel a ‘buzz’ anymore, as he put it.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)