Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel’s self-assessment: How he will perform at Aston Martin in 2022 and what the future might hold for him
“I want to win,” says Sebastian Vettel. But the four-time Formula 1 world champion is far from that in the 2022 season. Because the first races have shown: With the Aston Martin AMR22, Vettel can only calculate individual point positions. His dream of great success with the traditional British brand will not come true this year, maybe never.
“The team doesn’t look as if it can become world champion,” said Formula 1 expert Marc Surer in a video interview on the “Formel1.de” YouTube channel and continued: “Well, what the heck [Vettel] still there?” Surer gives the answer to his question himself: “[Vettel] fulfills his contract and then he says bye-bye.”
Such a scenario is possible: Vettel’s two-year contract with Aston Martin expires after the 2022 season. But in an interview with the French news agency “AFP”, Vettel emphasizes: “I have not yet made a decision about my future.”
Why the sporting prospects matter
Maybe he’ll continue, maybe not. The sporting prospects of success should play a decisive role. “I’m not here to finish outside the top 10,” says Vettel. But that’s often the reality at Aston Martin since 2021. Or as Vettel himself puts it: “We as a team wanted to be at the front, but we’re at the back now.”
Which is why some observers are wondering why Vettel is still driving at all, even though “the car doesn’t work,” says Surer. “That he [nach den positiven Coronatests zu Saisonbeginn] comes back and still drives speaks for him because he helps the team. He’s trying to push the team forward and there are already some signs of improvement. So he’s doing his job.”
Surer finds Vettel’s attitude “great” because he is not discouraged by the difficult sporting situation. “He could have thrown in the towel and no one would have blamed him, except maybe the team,” said Surer.
Vettel: Competition always and everywhere
But Vettel ticks differently. He sees a certain competitive character in everything he does, explains Vettel. For example: “When I cook, I want it to be perfect. If I don’t succeed, I’m disappointed. Then I think about how I can make it perfect. I set the bar so high.”
That’s why he currently “doesn’t have the impression that I’m driving less well than I used to,” said Vettel. He adds: “I’ve developed quite a bit. My experience also helps me not to let certain things stress me out.”
However, Surer no longer sees Vettel in the front row. He “can’t imagine which top team” would still sign the ex-champion. “He’s gone from Ferrari, he had the chance at Aston Martin of all things, so it’s not working now either.” In addition, a young generation of drivers is pushing into Formula 1.
Surer emphasizes that this does not mean that Vettel is on the scrap heap. “When things are going normally, he hits Stroll,” says Surer. “And we know that a Perez, for example, has always found it difficult to beat Stroll. So that’s a level he still has.”
“It’s more a question of motivation, if you know I’m fighting for tenth place, is that really the motivation for a four-time world champion to give everything? I don’t know.”
How Vettel imagines the time “after”.
The question of “afterwards” is therefore being asked more and more frequently by Vettel: his Formula 1 career is closer to the end than to the beginning. So has Vettel already made plans for the time after active driving?
There is no clear answer. Vettel just says so much: “Maybe I’ll stick with racing, but maybe not right away. It’s what I love, so who knows?”
Only one thing excludes Vettel for his future: “I’m not going to be a TV expert.”
And he doesn’t really care how the public looks at his Formula 1 career in retrospect. “The bottom line,” says Vettel, “it’s all about how I feel.”