“He had a desire to follow in the footsteps of Michael Schumacher”- Christian Horner claims Sebastian Vettel was right in taking $40 Million move to Ferrari from Red Bull

Christian Horner claims Sebastian Vettel took the right call by joining Ferrari in 2015 as, according to him, Red Bull wasn’t competitive.

Sebastian Vettel made massive headlines when he joined Ferrari in 2015. The German dominated the whole F1 with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013. But the Milton-Keynes-based team hit a slippery slope the next year.

Mercedes and Ferrari managed to have the upper hand over them that year. Meanwhile, Ferrari wanted to part ways with Fernando Alonso, as he had a horrible year with them.

Therefore, with Vettel at the peak of his F1 career, Ferrari envisioned becoming the world champion again. The team had all the resources to be successful, though it’s a different thing that they never succeeded together.

Talking about it, Red Bull boss Christian Horner says that Vettel’s decision was logical to leave his team for Ferrari in 2015. He accepts that Red Bull wasn’t competitive at that time and needed time to be back at the top.

“We weren’t in a competitive position at that time – Mercedes had a massive advantage and Ferrari looked like they were on the ascendency. Renault didn’t look like they were going to sort themselves out anytime soon,” said Horner.

“So no, we couldn’t compete with it. It was the right thing at that point in time for him. He had a desire to follow in the footsteps of Michael Schumacher and the lure of Ferrari for him, at that time we couldn’t offer a competitive car, it was understandable. It was sad but fully understandable.”

Also read: Fernando Alonso fumes at horrendous defending by 6″2 Alpine teammate

Sebastian Vettel is the most hardworking driver ever

Vettel, at the end of this year, will retire from F1. The German race driver confirmed this news on his newly made Instagram account. In response, several of his contemporaries and former teammates gave tribute.

Horner’s strong alliance with him in the last decade paid tribute to the four-time world champion. The Briton opined that Vettel was the most hardworking driver he had ever encountered.

“There is no one better at controlling a race from the front than Sebastian Vettel.” – Christian Horner pic.twitter.com/5MCD2hNlRn

— F1 To Rule Them All (@F1RulesMedia) July 24, 2022

“He was a massive part of our team and was a pleasure to work with. He was committed. He was unrelenting in his pursuit of performance – probably the hardest working driver I have come across.

Also read: Max Verstappen asks $1 Billion F1 team for a favour at Hungaroring

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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