The German driver announced his retirement from the top category of motorsport before the start of the summer break, causing a series of movements in the transfer market rarely seen before. The media attention focused on the ‘ Silly Season ‘ and all the rumors focused on names like Oscar Piastri , Daniel Ricciardo, Nyck de Vries or Pierre Gasly, but there was also time to ask Sebastian Vettel about what he would do after his departure from Formula 1.
In an interview on the Aston Martin team website, the four-time world champion opened up about his future and how he will spend the rest of his life away from the Grand Circus circuits. The one from Heppenheim recognized that, despite being a well-known face, he suggested that no one would remember him in history, giving other examples of great personalities in the world.
“I once heard someone say: ‘You will only be remembered until the last person who remembers you dies,'” Vettel said. “Let me put it like this, the United Kingdom has a new king, but it is not the first King Charles, there were two more before him. Do you remember them? Probably not, there is a limit, there will come a time when no one will remember me , nothing lasts forever”.
Hearing those words, the German was asked how the public would remember him , and he replied: “People can decide if they want to remember me, but I wouldn’t be offended if they didn’t, it’s not important to me how they remember me.”
“I always try to be successful, sometimes I don’t succeed, but above all I always try to treat people with respect and be kind,” said the German. “If that’s what people remember about me, that will make me happy.”
Sebastian Vettel has garnered four world titles in his years at the Grand Circus and has broken all sorts of early records, but beyond that, the Aston Martin man has learned how to live off the circuits while he was on them.
“There are many lessons in life, and it’s up to you if you decide to learn from them. Being a Formula 1 driver is a fast-paced way of life, I think that’s true for most professional athletes, you have everything that goes on in the normal life, but it is more compact in terms of time,” said the German.
“I had to grow up before my friends at school because I took my racing career very seriously and dealt with a lot of adults,” continued the four-time champion. “I was still doing all the stupid and silly things that teenagers do with their friends, but when you’re 19, your world is different when you spend a lot of time with people who are 30, 40, 50.”
“Going out with older people didn’t make life boring at all, but I had to mature quickly. If you want to achieve something, you have to commit, you have to be disciplined,” acknowledged the 35-year-old German.
The pressure of being one of the greats of the category for so many consecutive courses could be one of the reasons why Vettel decided to retire much earlier than expected, but the four-time world champion does not regret everything he has experienced in Formula 1.
“I often have the feeling that I have experienced so many things in the last 15 years that I cannot take them all in, meet so many people, go to so many different countries, etc. It has taught me a lot, time will tell how much I have heard,” he said. “I still love this sport, I still love racing. The decision to retire was a tough one, but I’ve thought about it for a while, I know the commitment this sport requires, and I feel like it’s a good time to do other things.”
The signing for Aston Martin after leaving Ferrari was a change of scenery for the German, and it was quite a challenge for him, because it meant going to a less competitive team than usual in the highest category of motorsport.
“It has been a challenge [the two seasons with the English team] because the car was not as competitive as we hoped. This year we wanted to make a significant improvement over the past, we have failed, and now we are where we finished last season,” he said. . “I’m not pointing fingers and saying we did a bad job, I’m just being realistic, we had high hopes but we fell short.”
People doubt that the real reason for the withdrawal is due to the lack of performance of the AMR22 and the project for the coming seasons, but Vettel has made the decision on his instinct: “I am very happy and proud to have worked together with a group of such talented and dedicated people at Aston Martin, although it hasn’t been great in terms of results, it’s been great fun working with everyone, helping the team on its way and building for the future.”
“I don’t know,” he said when asked if with a fast car he would have stayed in Formula 1. “Would I retire if I had been very competitive in the last three or four years, winning races, fighting for championships and maybe winning another “Maybe I would have made the same decision. It’s also possible I wouldn’t have, it’s impossible to say, but it crossed my mind.”
“Finishing 10th doesn’t excite me because I know what it feels like to finish first. If you’ve never finished first, the first time you finish 10th it really gives you a high, but I’m glad I didn’t feel bad about finishing 10th,” Vettel said. . “You have to be true to yourself. I love winning, it sounds selfish and egotistical, but winning is what motivates me.”
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