Lawrence Stroll and Mike Krack worked to keep the four-time world champion on the team - but, even without success in the attempt, acknowledged feeling respect for his retirement decision
Aston Martin tried hard to make Sebastian Vettel stay not only in Formula 1, but also in the team - but the four-time world champion's 'stay' came to an end this Thursday (28), when the German made official his retirement from the world's premier category of motorsport.
In the note issued by the Silverstone team, owner Lawrence Stroll reiterated what everyone already knew: Aston Martin worked towards this and publicly expressed the desire to have Vettel in 2023. Even if the attempt was unsuccessful, there is no grief, however: and, yes, a feeling of respect for the decision made by the future former driver.
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▶️ Sebastian Vettel: a career in numbers
"I want to thank Sebastian from the bottom of my heart for the great work he has done for Aston Martin over the last year and a half. We made it clear to him that we would like him to continue with us next year, but in the end he did what he thought was right for him and his family, and of course we respect that," Lawrence Stroll said.
"He drove some fantastic races for us, and behind the scenes, his experience and the knowledge of our engineers were extremely valuable. He is one of the all-time greats of Formula 1, and it was a privilege to work with him. He will continue to race with us until the 2022 Abu Dhabi GP, which will be his 300th GP. We will give him an incredible send-off," assured the Aston boss.
Team boss Mike Krack highlighted the German's qualities and said that Vettel's legacy in the team will last for a long time.
"Sebastian is a super driver - fast, intelligent and strategic - and of course we will miss these qualities. However, we have all learned from him and this knowledge we have gained thanks to working with him will continue to benefit the team long after he retires," he pondered. "Aston Martin is a great project with unlimited potential and the groundwork that Sebastian did last year and is still doing this year is crucial," he acknowledged.
Vettel's career
Even though he was not one of the leading drivers on the grid in the 'Drive to Survive Era', which brought so many new fans to the World Championship, Vettel's career is one of the most impressive of all time in the more than 70 years of F1.
Since he entered the grid and made his debut in the 2007 US GP, already in the final part of the season, then aged 20, Vettel has competed 289 races and has 11 more to go. Thus, he will reach 300 GPs. In this period he won 53 races, was on 122 podiums, scored 57 poles, and won four world titles. Numbers of a historical heavyweight.
Sebastian is tied with Alain Prost as four-time world champion, behind only three other drivers with more achievements; he is the youngest driver in history to win and pole in the same weekend (122 races).He is the youngest driver in history to have pole position and victory in the same weekend (21 years and 73 days, Italian GP 2008) and the youngest in history to have pole position, victory and fastest lap (21 years and 353 days, British GP 2009). He is, along with Nigel Mansell in 1992, the driver with the most wins from pole in a single year (nine, 2011). Vettel is the third driver with the most wins and laps led, the fourth with the most poles, and the seventh with the most races in history.
Despite his start at BMW, Vettel only drove eight races there, still on loan from Red Bull. The following year, 2008, he started at Toro Rosso and shone. Even with many retirements at the end of the year, he knew how to work to put the team back on track and make a magical second half of the year, winning the Italian GP, with pole position and everything.
Red Bull was the obvious destination, and so it was for 2009. It was when everything changed for the team, which made an impressive leap in the grid and left the giants Ferrari and McLaren behind. The title didn't come because of the Brawn GP phenomenon, but Red Bull was well positioned. Vettel was vice world champion and emerged as favorite for 2010.
Then, yes, began one of the most dominant moments of any driver in the history of F1. In the year he would be only 24 years old, Vettel knew how to fight. With five wins in the year, including in three of the last four races, he narrowly beat Fernando Alonso to win the Vettel world title. He dominated in 2011 to be bi and had to deal with Alonso again for the tri in 2012. In 2013 there was no contest: Vettel was four-time champion and still closed the season with nine straight wins - ten in the last 11, 11 in 13 and 15 wins in all.
With the arrival of the 'Hybrid Era' in 2014, the order of forces changed and Mercedes' rise was meteoric, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dominating. Vettel seemed despondent during the year, and in October he set his sights on Ferrari the following year. For the next six years he defended the red color.
As early as 2015, when Ferrari was going through a rebuild after the departures of Luca di Montezemolo, Stefano Domenicali, and Alonso, Vettel won three times. Starting in 2017, things changed. Ferrari jumped up and put itself in a position to challenge Mercedes, with Vettel starting the 2017 and 2018 championships very strongly and leading for several times especially in the early half of those years. Both championships have major throws that demarcate Sebastian's exit from contention: the accident with Max Verstappen at the start of the 2017 Singapore GP and the run off the track at the 2018 German GP. Hamilton got the better of him in both cases.
After the mistake in Germany, which came just after a victory in England, where Hamilton always reigned, Vettel did not recover. The end of that season was bad, while Charles Leclerc arrived the following year and quickly became the darling of the team, which again changed boss and president, with the departure of Maurizio Arrivabene and the departure and death of Sergio Marchionne. Even without the dreamed-of title, Vettel won 14 races for Ferrari - which puts him second only to Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda.
The exit was announced for the end of 2020, but still before the championship started. Aston Martin, which returned to F1 as a brand after almost 60 years, took advantage and signed with Vettel. In the first year, the four-time champion was second in the Azerbaijan GP and achieved the same result in Hungary, but on Monday he was disqualified for a technical infraction related to the amount of fuel delivered at inspection. A team problem. The expectation was to have a stronger team in 2022, but it didn't happen. Aston Martin has regressed and thinks about how to get out of the last positions this year and in the next ones. Something difficult even with the bold plans, including a new factory and wind tunnel, more employees, and the tradition of the brand.
A career nothing less than glorious, in an undeniable way. Averse to social networks, in recent years, Vettel increased the way he dealt with social issues, always at the circuits, taking advantage of the F1 platform. During this period, he defended climate issues and the bees, a species that is under global threat of extinction - something that would change the ecosystem of the planet, since the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and anti-war issues after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as anti-racism. Now he will have more time to address other issues.