Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel announces retirement as a F1 Driver

Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel has announced his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of the season. The news of the Aston Martin driver's retirement came as a shock to many but his dripping form for the last couple of years was indicative of it. Interestingly the German did not have an account on social media earlier. Vettel recently created his Instagram account and a few days later announced his retirement from the sport.

More interestingly, Vettel had jokingly said in an interview with WTF1’s Matt Gallagher that he will join social media when he’s close to retirement. No one however saw this coming.

The German driver joined the BMW Sauber team in 2006, and then went on to Toro Rosso in 2007. He was later promoted to the sister team Red Bull after an impressive performance at Toro Rosso in 2009. It was at Red Bull that Vettel won four World Championships. Ferrari came calling in 2015 and the German racer could not decline. His career at Ferrari however was nowhere close to what everyone expected. He departed from the team and joined Aston Martin in 2021 after being trophyless at Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel's retirement announcement

In his announcement post, the Aston Martin driver said, “I have had the privilege of working with many fantastic people in Formula 1 over the past 15 years – there are far too many to mention and thank,” said Vettel. “Over the past two years I have been an Aston Martin driver – and although our results have not been as good as we had hoped, it is very clear to me that everything is being put together that a team needs to race at the very highest level for years to come.”

 

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A post shared by Sebastian Vettel (@sebastianvettel)

“I have really enjoyed working with such a great bunch of people. Everyone – Lawrence , Lance , Martin , Mike , the senior managers, the engineers, the mechanics and the rest of the team – is ambitious, capable, expert, committed and friendly, and I wish them all well.

I hope that the work I did last year and am continuing to do this year will be helpful in the development of a team that will win in the future, and I will work as hard as I can between now and the end of the year with that goal in mind, giving as always my best in the last 10 races.

The decision to retire has been a difficult one for me to take, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about it; at the end of the year I want to take some more time to reflect on what I will focus on next; it is very clear to me that, being a father, I want to spend more time with my family.

But today is not about saying goodbye. Rather, it is about saying thank you – to everyone – not least to the fans, without whose passionate support Formula 1 could not exist.”

There are ten more races to go in the Formula 1 2022-23 season. Sebastian Vettel is currently 14th in the Driver’s standing with 15 points.