July 28, (THEWILL) – Sebastian Vettel has declared his intention to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the current campaign.
Vettel announced this on the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. He and the Aston Martin team had been in talks to extend his current contract, but the German driver opted to hang up his racing gloves. The 35-year-old will be exiting a career in which he has won 53 races and competed for teams including BMW-Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin.
In a statement made public by Aston Martin, Vettel said: “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. Over the past two years, I have been an Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team driver and although our results have not been as good as we had hoped, it is very clear to me everything is being put together that a team needs to race at the very highest level for years to come.
“I have really enjoyed working with such a great bunch of people. Everyone – Lawrence [Stroll], Lance [Stroll], Martin [Whitmarsh], Mike [Krack], the senior managers, the engineers, the mechanics and the rest of the team – is ambitious, capable, expert, committed and friendly, and I wish them all well.
And he finished by saying: “At the end of the year I want to take some more time to reflect on what I will focus on next. It’s very clear to me that being a father, I want to spend more time with my family. 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.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
