How Sebastian Vettel signed out of Formula 1 on a high

Sebastian Vettel in Formula 1: four world titles, 53 wins, 57 poles, 3098 points, 299 races, and out. That’s if Lewis Hamilton’s point that “Formula 1 has a way of sucking you back in” doesn’t come true and there is no Michael Schumacher or Fernando Alonso-style comeback in Vettel’s future.

Even though he says he’d be up for a one-off appearance at Suzuka, it doesn’t seem very likely, because Vettel’s 2022 campaign featured two main elements: his decision to retire at the end of a tough first half with Aston Martin; and then a farewell tour second. 

Hamilton was speaking alongside Alonso and Vettel in the pre-event press conference for the season finale, the three greats of their generation making one last appearance together. Three of the next followed: Max Verstappen, George Russell and Charles Leclerc. Memories of Vettel were required and shared.

Hamilton, after Vettel brought it up amusingly and unprompted, suggested the ex-Ferrari driver’s red mist moment to hit his rival’s Mercedes behind the safety car in Baku five years ago meant “our friendship got better!” Verstappen recalled how Vettel had waited at his motorhome for him to return from hospital after his 2021 Copse crash with Hamilton to see if he was all OK. Leclerc – the driver who more than any had contributed to Vettel’s farewell – recalled how he “received a letter one day” from the German “just thanking me for all the hard work” in Ferrari’s simulator as a 2017 F2 driver. 

Leclerc’s part in Vettel’s F1 story really matters. He arrived as Ferrari’s next young hope in 2019 and ended the tale of its previous star with enough presence to leave the team concluding that it had to move on from Vettel. When it acted in early 2020, Vettel explained that was the point he really began to think about when to leave F1, before finding a home for one final chapter with Aston. 

“Looking back, obviously 2020 wasn’t a good year for me,” Vettel replies when asked what he learned from his two-year stint with the green team. “And then it was the first time when I was really at the point of: ‘Do I have a drive? Do I want to drive? Should I stop?’ And I felt like I wanted to drive and I was very grateful for the opportunity that I was given. Obviously, hopes were high, because the team was performing so well [as Racing Point] in 2020. And the target was to keep doing that. It came differently.”

Vettel's commitment couldn't be faulted in his spell at Aston, but his car was usually only good enough to fight for scraps at the tail end of the points

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

After its disappointing 2021, Aston Martin did not make the strong start to the ground-effects era it had hoped for with the AMR22. Things didn’t look too bad in testing, but at the first races it was apparent that the car lacked downforce and therefore pace.

For Vettel, though, that discovery came from afar as he missed the opening two events due to contracting COVID-19 following the second test in Bahrain. Pandemic supersub Nico Hulkenberg took his place for the season opener and second Saudi Arabia race, which eventually left Vettel one race start short of the 300 club currently comprising Jenson Button, Schumacher, Hamilton, Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso. Still, Jackie Stewart finished with 99 starts, something Vettel, as a keen student of motorsport history, would no doubt appreciate…

He finally made his 2022 bow in Australia, where Aston’s struggles continued after it had come through his absence pointless. Indeed, Vettel’s lack of experience with the new cars, needing to stay off certain kerbs the previous machines found no challenge, was revealed.

"It’s a different race [in the midfield] – it’s a lot more busy, more hectic, more things happen. It’s very clean when you start from the top five positions and you don’t need to worry about it. Whereas if you start further back, anything is always possible" Sebastian Vettel

He crashed hard twice, nearly missing qualifying as the repairs to his car following his FP3 shunt were only completed thanks to the delay caused by team-mate Lance Stroll wrecking the other AMR22 in a silly clash with compatriot Nicholas Latifi. Vettel’s second shunt after one-third race distance ended a torrid weekend during which he was also fined for riding a moped on the Melbourne track after his FP3 crash.

Three months later, Vettel was handed a suspended €25,000 fine by the FIA for storming out of the Austrian GP drivers’ briefing after expressing his frustrations with officials, which also resulted in a stunt in Miami where Vettel wore his underpants over his race suit in the wake of the clampdown on drivers wearing non-compliant clothing and jewellery. 

On-track in the season’s first half, Vettel and Aston fluctuated. He recovered from his Australia crashes to make Q3 and pick up points the next time out at Imola, where he finished eighth, while Aston’s decision to alter the AMR22 so dramatically that it was dubbed a ‘green Red Bull’ in Spain led to a trying few months for both Vettel and Stroll.

But the veteran adapted quicker and was rewarded with further points in Monaco, Baku and at Silverstone and the Hungaroring before the summer break. Stroll’s two scores in the same post-Barcelona run might have been halved had he not so aggressively defended from Vettel at the end in France, a choice he repeated in Brazil to cop a penalty. Their second season as team-mates ended with Vettel winning their races head to head 11-9, and 13-7 in qualifying. 

After his Australia nadir, where he crashed twice and copped a fine for riding a moped on the track following this mechanical malady, Vettel's season improved greatly

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

But by the summer break, Vettel’s key decision was made: ahead of the Hungary weekend he announced his upcoming retirement from F1, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. The second crucial part of the season for Aston, which had been discussing a possible contract extension with Vettel, then took place as it moved rapidly to secure Alonso’s signature to partner Stroll for 2023 and kicked off Alpine’s saga over Oscar Piastri’s future.

That was all in the background for Vettel, who took the AMR22 to six more points finishes (five in GPs and another in Brazil’s sprint) after F1 returned to action at Spa, benefiting from its pace gain thanks to a series of smaller upgrades through the summer months.

Eighth position behind Stroll’s sixth in Singapore, where Aston thrived due to the track’s lack of high-speed turns, combined for his team’s biggest points haul of the year, but Vettel’s sixth in Japan was his personal best. And that was a personal highlight on a track that still thrills the 35-year-old. For his fans, his brief leading stint and last-lap battle with Kevin Magnussen in the US GP were surely the moments of the year. 

The Abu Dhabi finale might have been something special too, given a fired-up Vettel was rapid in qualifying to equal his best qualifying result of the year in ninth. But, like on many occasions this season, he was required to complete a lengthy opening stint, which backfired when he lost time battling several two-stopping rivals. Missing out on depriving former Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo of ninth right at the end left Aston equal on points with Alfa Romeo in the constructors’ championship, but behind in seventh on countback – the same spot in which it had finished 2021. 

“These years have been very important for me: one for the driving, but also to have the room and the possibility to grow even more off-track,” Vettel concludes of his Aston stint. He isn’t sure what comes next but has looked at other motorsport series. He won’t say which, and you’d think that any future racing exploits are surely a while off yet.

“From a sporting point of view,” Vettel continues, “it’s a different race [in the midfield] – it’s a lot more busy, more hectic, more things happen. It’s very clean when you start from the top five positions and you don’t need to worry about it. Whereas if you start further back, anything is always possible.

Hunting down and passing Magnussen on the final lap at COTA after a pitstop delay was one of Vettel's highlights

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“It also showed me the effort that a team in the midfield, that you don’t even know, in a way [puts in]. It exists when you’re always at the front, but a midfield team puts in a lot of effort and maybe even more effort and doesn’t get any reward. Lots of different aspects that taught me different lessons about our sport, my racing, but also about life.”

That’s because, again in 2022, Vettel showed his quality through noble stands – speaking out in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before the planned Sochi race was pulled, highlighting the potential of carbon-neutral fuels with his Silverstone demonstration run in Nigel Mansell’s Williams FW14B, and easily out-debating British politicians on Question Time. 

PLUS: The inconvenient questions posed by Vettel’s Williams run

If Red Bull’s Vettel got the titles between 2010 and 2013, Aston’s Vettel got leadership adulation. And that is how F1 will remember him: as one of its good guys.

Vettel was given a respectful send-off by his peers in Abu Dhabi

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

How the Alonso-Piastri saga played out

Four days after Sebastian Vettel announced his Formula 1 retirement, Aston Martin named Fernando Alonso as his replacement. 

Alonso, who was allowed to test the AMR22 at the post-season Abu Dhabi test, had grown frustrated with Alpine’s relatively poor pace, its reliability issues, and its reluctance to offer the long-term deal he desired. But his decision to jump ship had a much bigger impact at Alpine, which thought it had three drivers competing for two 2023 seats and ended up needing Pierre Gasly to be released by AlphaTauri to partner Esteban Ocon.

PLUS: Is Alonso really getting back to his ‘2012’ F1 best?

This was because junior category star Oscar Piastri had somehow slipped through its net. After Alpine announced its intention for the Australian to replace Alonso, without his words in a press release, he made it clear on Twitter that would not be the case. That led to ugly claims about Piastri lacking integrity from Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer, but in fact it was Alpine’s actions that had led to the 21-year-old and his management looking for a better option. 

A new plan from Alpine to loan Piastri to Williams for 2023 arrived, but that might have turned into a two-year stint had Alonso re-signed and stayed for 2024, was the final straw

Delays on his reserve driver deal and a suggested 2023-24 race drive left Piastri and his camp frustrated. Then a new plan from Alpine to loan him to Williams for 2023 arrived, but that might have turned into a two-year stint had Alonso re-signed and stayed for 2024 – as was being discussed even on the Hungarian GP weekend when he chose Aston.

That was the final straw for Piastri and his management, led by Mark Webber. They looked elsewhere and found McLaren looking to move on from Daniel Ricciardo. A preliminary deal was signed in early June, with both sides confident that Piastri was a free agent for 2023 since Alpine had only lodged a ‘Terms Sheet’ agreement with the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board, which was later confirmed in a high-profile legal case. One month on, Piastri was signed as Ricciardo’s replacement.  

PLUS: Why is Oscar Piastri F1's most sought-after rookie?

How Piastri and McLaren get on against Alpine after the latter beat the former to fourth in 2022 will be a big subplot next term.

Vettel's retirement triggered the chain of events which ended with Alpine losing Alonso to Aston and Piastri to McLaren

Photo by: McLaren