Sebastian Vettel will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season. He announced this on Instagram, where he created an account just a few hours before.
“The decision to retire was difficult for me and I thought about it for a long time,” said Vettel. “At the end of the year, I want to take more time to think about what I will focus on next. It is clear to me that as a father I want to spend more time with my family.’
“However, today is not about saying goodbye. Rather, it is a thank you – to everyone, and not least to the fans, without whose passionate support Formula 1 could not exist.”
“I have been a driver for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 team for the last two years and although our results have not been as good as we had hoped, it is very clear to me that everything is coming together for the team to compete at the highest level for many years to come.”
“I really enjoyed working with such a great group of people. Everyone – Lawrence, Lance, Martin, Mike, senior managers, engineers, mechanics and the rest of the team are ambitious, capable, experienced, dedicated and friendly and I wish them all the best. I hope that the work I did last year and continue to do this year will help develop a team that will win in the future and with that goal in mind I will work as hard as I can between now and the end of the year, and in the last ten races I will give my best as always.”
Aston wanted him to continue
“I want to thank Sebastian from the bottom of my heart for the great job he has done for the team since he joined,” said Lawrence Stroll.
“We’ve made it clear to him that we want him to continue with us next year, but at the end of the day he’s done what he thinks is right for him and his family and of course we respect that. He drove some fantastic races for us and behind the scenes his experience and the expertise of our engineers was extremely valuable.”
Stroll declared that Vettel was “one of the greatest Formula 1 greats of all time” and the team would “give him a wonderful farewell” at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
He debuted in 2007
He made his motorsport debut at the 2007 US Grand Prix, where he replaced Robert Kubica at the BMW Sauber team after his accident in Canada. Vettel finished eighth on his debut. He drove for Toro Rosso from Hungary.
In 2009, he moved to Red Bull, with which he won four world championship titles between 2010 and 2013. He drove for Ferrari between 2015 and 2019. He won another victory, but failed to win a fifth title. He has been with Aston Martin since last season.
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