Sebastian Vettel Will Retire From Formula 1 At The End Of 2022

This is it. The driver who brought Red Bull its very first championship, and then 3 more right after that, the driver who broke many records, being youngest ever race winner, and youngest ever Formula 1 World Champion - Sebastian Vettel - has announced his retirement from Formula 1. He will continue to race until the end of the season, but the 35-year old has affirmed that this season, his fifteenth full season in F1, will indeed be his last. 

“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”. “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.”

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“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” said Sebastian Vettel, upon announcing his retirement.

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Further, via an Instagram post from an account which was created just a few hours before the announcement, Sebastian Vettel said “As much as there is my life on track, there is my life off track too”. “I feel we live in very decisive times, and how we all shape these next years will determine our lives. My passion comes with certain aspects that I’ve learned to dislike. They might be changed in the future, but the will to apply that change has to grow much much stronger and has to be leading to action today.” “There is no alternative, the race is underway”. 

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Apart from many other things, Sebastian Vettel has been vocal about action against climate change, and has always lead from the front, and not just said big words. Be it arriving to the race tracks on a bicycle, or running Mansell’s Formula 1 car and a 100 year old Aston Martin on sustainable fuel, Vettel has not only demonstrated, but urged everyone to take action against climate change, and apart from wanting to spend more time with his family, it is clear that Vettel wants to do more to help this cause. “My best race? Still to come” he added.

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Sebastian Vettel bowing to his RB9 racecar after the 2013 Indian Grand Prix, having won his fourth championship.

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Sebastian Vettel won his fourth and last Formula 1 title at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix, and topped that off by doing donuts in his Red Bull RB9 on the start finish straight, and bowed in front of the car after that, giving his fans a moment and an image which they will never forget. Vettel won an incredible 13 out of the 19 races in the 2013 season, and won all of the last 9 races, creating a streak which no one has ever matched or broken since. Throughout his career for Red Bull and Ferrari, Vettel has won 53 Grands Prix, sitting third in the list of most number of wins, behind only Lewis Hamilton, and Michael Schumacher. With 4 World Championships to his name, only 3 drivers ever have had more championships than Vettel, those being Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, and Juan-Manuel Fangio. But though the stats are outstanding, Vettel’s career can’t be summed up by just numbers. Magical races aside, Vettel has always spoken up for what’s right, even defending his arch rival Hamilton in press conferences. He has stayed back after races to clean up the grand stands, trying to promote fans not to litter, and has also been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. With the German’s departure, there will be a hole left in the sport which may very well never be filled.