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Thursday 10 September 2020
After Ferrari heads a new team: Sebastian Vettel remains in Formula 1. The 33-year-old will drive for the Racing Point / Aston Martin team from next season. This means that Vettel is not forced to end his career with Ferrari after the disaster season.
Sebastian Vettel continues his career in Formula 1 after retiring from Ferrari in the new English team Aston Martin. The four-time world champion signed a contract with Racing Point’s designated successor racing team for the year 2021. Racing Point shared this shortly before the Tuscan Grand Prix (Sunday, 3.10 pm live on RTL and on the live ticker of ntv.de) with and ended months of speculation about the 33-year-old’s sporting future.
Vettel will receive the booth from Sergio Pérez in the future. The Mexican had announced his departure at the end of the year on Wednesday night. “It is a new adventure for me with a truly legendary automaker,” said Vettel. “I am impressed with the results the team has achieved this year and I think the future looks even better.”
“Everyone at Silverstone is extremely excited about this news,” said team principal Otmar Szafnauer: “Sebastian is a proven champion and brings with him a winning mentality that corresponds to our own ambitions for the future as an Aston Martin F1 Team.” He stressed: “He will play an important role in taking this team to the next level.”
Schumacher emulated in vain
Rather than ending his career early, Vettel remains in the premier class of motorsport after six years at Ferrari. The veteran must leave the Scuderia at the end of 2020 without the long-awaited world title. He tried in vain to emulate his childhood idol, Michael Schumacher, and now announces his move just ahead of Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix in Italy on Sunday.
Rumors about the band with the Silverstone team had recently persisted in the racing series setting. They were even more encouraged when Pérez himself announced that he would be leaving the racing team after seven years. The 30-year-old Guadalajara actually would have had a contract beyond the turn of the year. However, it had long been assumed that Pérez would have to leave to make room for a driver with a very important name from 2021: Vettel. “I can’t imagine a better driver who can help us on the path to this new era,” said Szafnauer.
Ferrari-Aus was a surprise
Ferrari announced in mid-May that Vettel would be replaced by Spaniard Carlos Sainz Junior starting next year. Since then, the 53-time Grand Prix winner, who has been waiting for a sense of accomplishment for nearly a year, has chatted about a possible new engagement. Early resignation was also a problem time and time again. Veteran world champion Mercedes waved his hand in reference to his driver duo Lewis Hamilton / Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull completely relied on Dutchman Max Verstappen and Renault preferred to bring back two-time world champion Fernando Alonso from Spain.
For Aston Martin, Vettel is now the longed-for best man. The British want to attack the top and fully rely on the experience and constant hunger for victory of the Germans. Vettel began his extraordinary Formula 1 career in 2007 as a substitute driver in the BMW-Sauber. In 2008 he drove loser Toro Rosso in the Monza rain as the youngest winner ever. In 2010 he became the youngest Red Bull champion and won the title over the next three years. But high hopes for more wins after his move to Ferrari in 2015 were not fulfilled.
Is it the best locations again?
At Aston Martin, unlike poor Ferrari, he could compete for top positions again this year in 2021. The past few months have been a huge disappointment for Vettel. Not only did he not win or get on the podium this year, in the SF1000 he had to fight for positions outside the points, or, as recently at Monza, he did not even see the checkered flag because of a defect. With only 16 points in the World Championship, he is ranked 13th overall and has no real chance of winning the title.
At Aston Martin, which will continue to work with Mercedes, everything should be different. “I still have a lot of love for Formula 1 in me, and my only motivation is to drive to the front of the field,” said Vettel, who will drive alongside Lance Stroll there. The son of Canadian billionaire and co-owner Lawrence Stroll has his safe place and in the future will be more in the shadow of Vettel. More recently, however, the 21-year-old convinced on the track and finished third at Monza.
