President of the FIA (International Automobile Federation), Mohammed Ben Sulayem thanked Sebastian Vettel for his contribution to the sport. The world's top motorsport official wished the German good luck and described his Formula One career as "fantastic.

On Thursday (28), Vettel announced he will leave the World Championship at the end of the 2022 season. At 35, the four-time champion had the option to renew his contract with Aston Martin, but opted to spend more time with his family and decided it is time to end his career.

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Via Twitter, Ben Sulayem extolled what he called a "fantastic career" and thanked Vettel for his contribution to the sport.

"Since Sebastian Vettel has just announced his retirement at the end of 2022, I would like to pay tribute to his fantastic career with four F1 Drivers' World Championship titles and 53 wins," he wrote. "Thank you, Sebastian, for all you have brought to our sport. I wish you all the best in your future.

The German has a history of precociousness in Formula One. He is the youngest in history to have pole and win in the same weekend - 21 years and 73 days - (2008 Italian GP), and the youngest in history to have pole, win and fastest lap - 21 years and 353 days - (2009 British GP).

Despite the praise, Ben Sulayem has not always been favorable to Vettel's stance. Early last June, the incumbent complained about the activism of Sebastian, Lewis Hamilton, and even Lando Norris, who advocate for issues with human rights, the environment, and mental health.

"I come from a black and white world, and it's very hard to do that. When it's governance, it has to be governance, when it's neutrality, it has to be neutrality. So we are for one reason and one reason only, and that is sport. Now you have to be political sometimes, but not really be a politician. Where do you find balance? The FIA needs to be careful not to get dragged into politics without forgetting our roots in motorsport," he said.

"Niki Lauda and Alain Prost only cared about driving. Now, Vettel pedals on a rainbow bike, Lewis is passionate about the issue of human rights, and Norris talks about mental health. Everyone has the right to think. For me, it's a question of whether we should impose our beliefs all the time on something other than sport," he said.

Sulayem tried to emphasize diversity and equality in his tenure at the FIA, but cites that he does not want to impose his beliefs on top of motorsport issues, stating that rules were made to be followed.

"I come from an Arab culture: I am international and Muslim. I don't impose my beliefs on others, no way, ever. If you look at my operation in the UAE. we have [people of] 16 nationalities. Name a single federation that has that number of nationalities. Also, it's 34% women and seven religions. We still have more Christians than Muslims. I'm proud of that because it creates credibility and merit," he followed.

"But do I impose my beliefs? No. The rules exist and, even today, they are there even for issue like, for example, jewelry. I didn't write any of that," he added.

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