Sebastian Vettel’s F1 career was known to end about half an hour before the official announcement.
When the formula champion, who had been stalking social media for years, suddenly appeared on Instagram, you didn’t have to be a genius to realize that something big was going on. And in Vettel’s case, you knew it wasn’t just any social media campaign.
When the most urgent media were still pushing the news of Vettel’s surrender to the altar of social media, two videos were published on the pipe account. One in English, the other in German. In them, Vettel dropped his actual news.
Stylish. Exactly what you would expect from the most stylish man in the formula pits.
On the track, the 35-year-old Vettel is now a pale shadow of the super performer of the Red Bull years. When Vettel was at his best, he was magical.
Four consecutive World Championship titles from 2010 to 2013 are Vettel’s wooden mark in formula history.
A familiar sight ten years ago. Sebastian Vettel grabbed success with Red Bull. PDO
2011 and 2013 in particular were amazingly overwhelming performances. Vettel made the most of all the features of the car that Adrian Newey conjured for him. The others were left with nothing but crumbs in these two seasons.
It is precisely by appealing to the equipment that the most hasty can beat Vettel. “It’s easy to win when the car is completely superior”. Sure, but that’s only half the truth.
It takes a good driver to get the most out of a good car.
When comparing the performances of Vettel and teammate Mark Webber, it is not unclear who made better use of the ingenious concepts designed by Newey.
It is a sign of a good driver that he is able to assess the potential of his fleet. There are many drivers in Formula history who have not been able to do this.
It is rare for an F1 driver to say that one moment or situation acts as a watershed that separates everything in a career.
Vettel saw that moment in July 2018.
This moment turned Vettel’s F1 career into decline. PDO
Going out in a clear lead in the home race in Hockenheim was clearly a huge mistake. With a win, Vettel would have led the World Cup battle against Lewis Hamilton, with the stoppage the Briton got an advantage, which he never gave up.
Until that infamous Sunday in July, Vettel had driven Ferrari strongly. After that, it was as if a bad copy of him had taken his place.
After that exit, Vettel lost his confidence.
After the 2018 German GP, Vettel was an extremely error-prone driver who seemed to spin or crash in almost every race. Every mistake also cooled the gap at the beginning in such a beautiful love story with Ferrari.
The last moments together were like a union waiting for a divorce.
Vettel joined Maranello for the 2015 season after the young Daniel Ricciardo undermined his position at Red Bull.
Vettel left Maranello after the 2020 season after the young Charles Leclerc undermined his position at Ferrari.
As much as Vettel gave to these two teams, time was running out for him on both occasions. Vettel was not able to adapt to the new cars for the 2014 season as well as Ricciardo.
Leclerc, on the other hand, was able to redeem his huge potential right away. As Ferrari’s junior promise, he was promoted from Vettel’s sidekick to the next messiah after just a couple of races.
Vettel’s days in the Italian team were already numbered in the spring of 2019.
Between Ricciardo and Leclerc, Vettel enjoyed his time with the best teammate of his career. Kimi Räikkönen was a friend and trusted both on the track and outside the pits. The two became friends already in Vettel’s first years in F1.
Vettel gained a good friend in Kimi Raikkonen. EPA / AOP
Räikkönen’s reluctance to get involved in the disgusting political game of the formula world suited Vettel well. The Finn was not interested in rocking the boat in the name of his own interest, so Vettel could for once focus on his own work in peace.
The duo’s collaboration at Ferrari lasted four seasons. Vettel played a big role in this. His strong word defended Räikkönen’s extension contract in the last seasons. Vettel would have liked the cooperation to continue in the 2019 season as well, even though Räikkönen had just beaten him for the first time since the end of the 2018 season.
The F1 world expected Vettel’s career to end already after the 2020 season.
Two seasons at Aston Martin have been a huge disappointment. The stable’s performance has been far from what its predecessor Racin Point was once capable of.
This season Vettel has shown clear signs of giving up.
As a four-time world champion and the driver of 53 GP victories, Vettel will surely find it difficult to motivate himself to fight for the last places from weekend to weekend. In the end, he was not the kind of team motivator that Aston Martin had hoped for.
Instead of teammate Lance Stroll, Vettel has focused on mentoring his young compatriot Mick Schumacher. He has wanted to be the same father figure to Mick as Michael Schumacher once was to Vettel.
Vettel has never made it unclear that there is other content in his life besides driving. At Aston Martin, this side has gained a lot of visibility.
Vettel is the most ecological man in the formula world. He is concerned about the climate and wants the world to be a good place for his children. PDO
And that’s fine. In addition to championships and victories, Vettel should also be remembered as the greenest man in formulas.
Arriving at the pit with a bike instead of a car, building bee hotels, supporting various environmental projects and conveying persuasive messages in a helmet may appear to some as virtue signaling and moral posing.
It’s a very cynical way of looking at the world.
At least Vettel is trying to make the world a better place. The fact that in the future Vettel will no longer pollute the world with an F1 car and flying around the world was as important a reason for him to end his career as time for his own family.
Vettel has given the Formula Ones his all. The sports legend has earned a good life even after the formulas.