Red Bull boss Christian Horner heaped praise on Sebastian Vettel, saying he saw the German's move to Ferrari in 2015 as "the right thing to do at that moment".
It was with Red Bull that Sebastian Vettel achieved legendary status in Formula One. With the Austrian team, the German has won no less than four titles and 38 of his 53 victories in the category. He has also scored 44 pole-positions and helped lead the Milton Keynes-based team into the big boys of the modern F1 era. These achievements only reflect Vettel's commitment to the pursuit of top performance, in Christian Horner's view.
To the press, the Red Bull boss branded Vettel as "ruthless". "I was saddened by the announcement [of Seb's retirement] on the one hand. On the other, it is the right moment for him," the British manager assessed. "He was a big part of our team. It was a pleasure to work with him, he was committed. He was relentless in his pursuit of performance."
"He's probably one of the hardest working drivers I've ever met, a really nice guy. Four world titles. There were times when he was in a championship of his own, and I just wish him the best and that these last ten races are safe and enjoyable," Horner stressed.
In 2015, the victorious cycle with Red Bull would come to an end. From then on, Vettel would begin one of the greatest challenges of his career, to lead Ferrari to a drivers' title that had not been won by Kimi Räikkönen since 2007.
Horner was asked about the feeling when he saw the four-time champion going to the Italian rival, but he said he took the change naturally. "We didn't have a competitive car and we were not in a competitive position at that time," he said.
"Mercedes had a huge advantage, and Ferrari seemed to be on the rise. Renault didn't look like they were going to get it right any time soon. It was the right thing to do at that time, and he had the feeling of following in Michael Schumacher's footsteps. The attraction about Ferrari was because at the time we couldn't provide him with a competitive car, but it was something compressible," concluded the Red Bull boss.
Vettel announced on Thursday (28) that the 2022 season would be his last in Formula One. Last week, the 35-year-old four-time champion had expressed his interest in renewing his contract with Aston Martin, but justified that he wants to spend more time with his family.
In F1, Vettel has competed 289 races and has 11 more to go before he bids farewell to the category. Thus, he will reach 300 GP races. During this period he has won 53 races, been on 122 podiums, scored 57 poles, and won four world titles.
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 win pole in the same weekend (1 GP).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.