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After 16 years premier class
Sebastian Vettel ends Formula 1 career at the end of the season
07/28/2022, 12:00 p.m
With his new Instagram account, Sebastian Vettel makes Formula 1 fans curious – and announces that he is ending his career. As a four-time world champion, he is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the sport. At 35, he is now retiring at the end of this season.
“I hereby announce that I will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season.” It is the first sentence of a detailed video that Sebastian Vettel publishes on his Instagram account at 12 noon sharp. This account is only a few hours old, but more than 500,000 people are already following it. And witness the 35-year-old announce that his impressive career in Formula 1 will be over in a few months. The season at Aston Martin, his 16th in the premier class of motorsport, is his last.
The four-time world champion and 53-time Grand Prix winner says he now has a list of people to thank for their support throughout his career. “But I feel like it’s more important to explain why I made that choice.” Although he loves motorsport, it has been “a central part of my life since I can remember”. But there is also life off the track. “I believe in that identity [eines Menschen] is not derived from what we do, but from who we are and how we treat other people.”
Then Vettel asks rhetorically: “Who am I?” and gives the answer immediately afterwards: “I’m Sebastian, father of three children and husband of an amazing woman. I’m curious and I’m easily attracted to passionate and capable people. I’m obsessed with achieving perfection. I’m tolerant and have the feeling that we all have the same right to life, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love.” He reveals his favorite color (“blue”), that he likes the smell of fresh bread, that he believes in change and that every small step makes a difference.
“I’ve developed interests outside of Formula 1,” Vettel continues: “My passion for racing and Formula 1 means I don’t have enough time for it and it takes a lot of energy.” The exhausting everyday life as a Formula 1 driver “no longer fits in with my desire to be a good father and husband”. The energy it takes to become one with the car and the team, “to pursue perfection requires focus and commitment.” His goals have shifted from “winning races and chasing world titles” to “watching my kids grow up, instilling my values, helping them up when they fall, listening to them when they need me, no more ‘up to say goodbye’, but to be able to learn from them”.
From BMW-Sauber to Red Bull and Ferrari to Aston Martin
Vettel first stepped onto the big stage of Formula 1 in the 2007 season, when the then BMW-Sauber team hired him as a test driver. After regular driver Robert Kubica had an accident at the Canadian Grand Prix and had to sit out a race, the then 19-year-old from Heppenheim made his debut at the US Grand Prix – and scored points directly in eighth place – as the youngest driver in the history of Formula 1 at the time During the season he moved to Toro Rosso. The Red Bull junior team promoted him to regular driver.
In 2008, Vettel celebrated his breakthrough in Monza when he drove his Toro Rosso, which was actually inferior, to pole position and then to a race win. After moving to Red Bull, the German established himself at the top before he was crowned world champion in 2010 as the youngest driver to date. Vettel only led the championship standings once that year – but at the crucial moment after the last race. In the seasons 2011, 2012, 2013 he repeated his triumph, sometimes with impressive dominance and consistency, his nine race victories (Belgium 2013 to Brazil 2013) are still an unmatched record.
In 2015 Vettel switched to Ferrari with the aim of bringing the struggling Scuderia back to its former strength. He won his second Grand Prix in Malaysia, but it was never enough for the title. In 2020, the ways parted, the German joined Aston Martin, an ambitious racing team, which has been chasing after its claims since then. That should also be one of the reasons why Vettel put the steering wheel aside after this season.