“It contributed to my retirement”: Sebastian Vettel decided to retire because he wasn’t driving race winning cars anymore

Sebastian Vettel is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. His best time in F1 arguably came during his Red Bull stint. He won four World Championships with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit and his career has not been the same since leaving in 2015.

Vettel joined Ferrari and was labeled as the man who would bring Championship glory back to Maranello. Despite winning 14 races for the Scuderia, he couldn’t pose a serious Title threat to Mercedes or Lewis Hamilton who were dominant at the time. After a disastrous 2020 campaign, he decided to leave the prancing horses for team Silverstone who had just rebranded themselves as Aston Martin.

Vettel’s hopes after joining Aston Martin were inclined towards him returning to the front once again. Unfortunately, it has brought him a step backward. The 35-year-old has spent the last two seasons with the British team in the lower midfield and finally called time on his illustrious career earlier this year.

A lot of fans and pundits felt that Aston Martin’s poor mechanical package influenced his decision of retiring. Vettel recently confirmed that driving a car that was incapable of winning races did contribute to early retirement.

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Sebastian Vettel was unable to showcase his real talent with Aston Martin

When Lawrence Stroll took over Aston Martin (formerly Force India and Racing Point), big things were expected. However, his heavy investment in the outfit has not paid off yet as they continue to struggle. Vettel, who is a four-time World Champion with 53 wins to name has been struggling to prove his worth with such a team.

In a recent interview with Der Spiegel, he shared his thoughts on his retirement. The former Red Bull driver insisted that he has no regrets over it and believes that it was the right time to make the announcement. However, driving a sub-par Aston Martin car did influence his decision.

BREAKING: Sebastian Vettel has announced he will retire from F1 at the end of the 2022 season

4 world titles
53 race wins
122 podiums
1 phenomenal career#ThankYouSeb pic.twitter.com/K8BVXI6IAx

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2022

“The fact that I’m not currently in a race car with which I can show what I’m actually capable of has contributed to my retirement,” Sebastian Vettel said.

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Vettel was considering retirement when Charles Leclerc joined Ferrari

Back in 2019, Leclerc joined Ferrari to replace the outgoing Kimi Raikkonen. This was a clear statement from Ferrari that Vettel was no longer their future. Leclerc was just 21 at the time and was widely regarded as the golden boy of Ferrari.

This began affecting Vettel’s performances out on track. He finished P5 in the standings behind Leclerc that year and his subsequent campaign turned out to be his worst ever. In 2020, Vettel finished 13th with just 33 points! Leclerc meanwhile had 98 points so the gap between them was huge.

🗣️ “He started to squeeze me a little bit.”

🗣️ “I didn’t have much space on the right.”

🗣️ “I think the drivers need to feel sorry for the team.”

How Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari reacted to dramatic crash in Brazilhttps://t.co/3P7jV2uIlz#SkyF1 pic.twitter.com/pJXc5P79fk

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 18, 2019

In the interview with Der Spiegel, Vettel admitted that the thought of retiring had crossed his mind when Leclerc replaced him as Ferrari’s number 1 driver. The 34-year-old legend has just two races left in F1 before he retires. He will lace up for his penultimate outing at this weekend’s Sao Paolo GP in Brazil.