“The decision to retire was a difficult one for me and I spent a lot of time thinking about it,” he said in a statement. Vettel made an impact from the finish but success largely eluded him for the second half of his time in F1. He won his four titles with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013 and joined Ferrari in 2015. He contested the championship twice with the Scuderia in 2017 and 2018, but was beaten both times by Lewis Hamilton. He stayed at Ferrari until the end of 2020 and joined Aston Martin in 2021, but has not won a race since the Singapore Grand Prix in 2019. However, during his time with Red Bull and Ferrari he scored a huge number of wins and 53, puts him behind only Hamilton on 103 and Michael Schumacher on 91. In recent years Vettel has been increasingly open to environmental and social issues. He strongly supported Hamilton’s calls to tackle racism and diversity in sport and was outspoken about the urgency of the climate emergency. He has recently expressed his reluctance to compete in F1, a sport that has a huge carbon footprint due to the volume of air travel. These are subjects he will likely continue to pursue but he did not reveal his plans for the future. “At the end of the year I want to take a little more time to think about what I’m going to focus on next,” he said. “It’s very clear to me that, as a father, I want to spend more time with my family. But today is not about saying goodbye. On the contrary, it’s about saying thank you – to everyone – and especially to the fans, without whose passionate support Formula 1 could not exist.” His retirement will open up new potential moves in the F1 driver market with a seat now open alongside Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, which is owned by Stroll’s billionaire father Lawrence, who has big ambitions for the team. Vettel made his US GP debut in 2007 for BMW before being taken full-time by the Toro Rosso team mid-season. A year later he delivered an absolute masterclass for the team in the wet at Monza to take his first victory and become at the time the sport’s youngest GP winner, an honor since Max Verstappen claimed it. He was promoted to the full Red Bull team in 2009 and with the team and car at their best, he took his four titles, including two completely dominant seasons in 2011 and 2013 when he won 11 and 13 races respectively. He will call time on his F1 career at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, which will be his 300th meeting. He is currently 14th in the championship in an Aston Martin that is very uncompetitive but pays tribute to the team. “For the last two years I have been an Aston Martin driver – and although our results have not been as good as we expected, it is very clear to me that everything that a team needs to compete at the same stage is coming together. higher level for the next few years,” he said. Stroll said he hoped Vettel would stay at the team but accepted he wanted to move on. “We made it clear to him that we wanted him to continue with us next year,” he said. “But in the end he did what he thought was 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 mechanics has been extremely valuable.” Hamilton, who ended Vettel’s dominance by winning the drivers’ title in 2014, tweeted: “Sev, it was an honor to call you a competitor and an even greater honor to call you my friend. Leaving this sport better than you found it is always the goal. I have no doubt that what lies ahead for you will be exciting, meaningful and fulfilling. I love you, man.”
