With impressive speed we have reached the last race of the 2022 season, the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, and in a round where the second place in the championship will be definitively decided, in a fight between Charles Leclerc and a Sergio Perez who was extremely fiery after Brazil, there is room for farewells – definitively or temporarily – to the circus; among all, the one that made the most news and struck the most is that of Sebastian Vettel, who will hand over his seat to Fernando Alonso after this race. Let's retrace the German's career together.
2007: Formula 1 debut with BMW Sauber
The young Sebastian was racing in 2007 in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series when the call came in as a works driver from BMW Sauber, a team for which he had made his debut as third driver in the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix. two records: youngest driver to participate in a Formula 1 weekend (beaten by Verstappen in 2014) and the record for the fastest fine since the beginning of his career, with only 9 seconds since his exit from the pits. In 2007, Vettel answered the call to replace Robert Kubica, author of a spectacular accident with Jarno Trulli who saw him crash into the barriers. Sebastian managed to access Q3 and qualify in seventh position, to then finish the race eighth, thus earning the first point of his career.
2007 and 2008: the arrival in Toro Rosso and the victory in Monza
Sebastian was under contract as a young Red Bull driver, and when Scott Speed was kicked out of Toro Rosso the choice of replacement fell on Vettel. Toro Rosso also announced the German for 2008, thus securing his future in Formula 1. Fourth place in the Chinese Grand Prix achieved from seventeenth position began to establish Vettel as one of the youngsters to be reckoned with.
The 2008 season didn't start in the best way, with four retirements in four races, but after a fifth place in Monaco it seemed that Vettel had finally figured out how to be extremely fast in his car. However, the consecration came at Monza, with the victory in the wet ahead of Kovalainen and Kubica: on that occasion, the German press referred to him as "Baby Schumi". Monza was the real turning point for Sebastian's career.
2009-2014: Red Bull, the four titles and the break
In 2009 there was promotion at home for Vettel, with the move to Red Bull to replace David Coulthard, who retired from racing. Thanks to the German Red Bull, he achieved his first victory as a team, during the Chinese Grand Prix, where he also obtained the pole position. There was no story that year in regards to the drivers' championship, as with 66 points from the first 7 races Button would have won the title, but Vettel's form was a clear indication of what the future held, and the wonderful period of the German started right from 2010.
“Du bist, world master!”
Vettel's 2010 started with two pole positions, which didn't translate into victories until the Malaysian Grand Prix. The season was very fluctuating, with results that led him to find himself fourth in the championship with four races to go. Two victories in Japan and Brazil, with a retirement in South Korea, reduced the gap in the championship to just 15 points. Only Alonso, Webber, Vettel and Hamilton could win the title, with the Spaniard ahead of everyone. There was no story in Abu Dhabi, with Vettel winning the race and obtaining the title, also thanks to the difficulties in the final for Alonso. The radio phrase of his track engineer remains famous: “Du bist, world master!”.
The following years were varied in his form, but not in the final result, with him winning four consecutive titles. That rosy period, however, was destined to disappear: in 2014, with the transition to turbo-hybrid engines, Vettel didn't seem to find the right shape to battle on the track. This, combined with the apparent unbeaten run of the Mercedes, made the German take the decision to leave the team that had given him so much for a ride towards his dream: to wear red.
2015-2020: the Ferrari dream and the bitter farewell
Coming to the Maranello team couldn't be sweeter for Sebastian, who follows in the footsteps of his idol Michael Schumacher by driving for Ferrari. On his debut in Australia in 2015, he conquered an excellent third place, followed by the conquest of victory in Malaysia in front of the two Mercedes. The 2015 season sees him always arrive in the top 5, except in the two cases of retirement during the season, in Belgium and Mexico.
2017 and 2018: Nuanced title fight
The following year he was not as prolific, with on-track collisions resulting in a winless season. Finally, in 2017 and 2018, Vettel returned to fight for the championship, opening '17 with a victory in Australia, Bahrain and Monaco, finishing second in China, Russia and Spain. Unfortunately for the German, after the summer break Mercedes managed to recover ground, going to regain the championship lead with Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix. For the first time in his career, Vettel did not win the title after leading the championship.
In 2018 the situation was extremely similar, winning in Australia and Bahrain, but until the German Grand Prix the championship lead was alternating between him and Hamilton. Just a mistake in Germany that led him to retire is seen as the beginning of the end of his championship. From the Italian Grand Prix to the United States, Ferrari proved uncompetitive, with Hamilton taking the title at the Mexico round.
2019 and 2020: black crisis and farewell to the Reds
2019 and 2020 did not prove positive for Vettel, with Mercedes dominating the initial part of the season in 2019. The controversy surrounding the Canadian Grand Prix saw Vettel finish second, penalized for having rejoined the track in a dangerous manner, and in general the season saw him very insecure and problematic. The only victory of the season came in Singapore, with an optimal strategy that saw him overtake teammate Leclerc.
2020 was terrible, with the SF1000 literally lacking speed, so much so that Vettel finished the season in thirteenth place in the standings, with only a podium as his best result. Ferrari finished sixth in the world championship, and at the lowest point there was the separation, with the departure of the German towards Aston Martin.
2021 and 2022: arrival at Aston Martin and retirement
The debut with Aston Martin was not the best, due to a contact on the track that saw him finish fifteenth and with five penalty points on his licence. Going on with the races, Vettel showed that he was able to gain confidence with a car with an extremely different philosophy compared to the Ferrari one, even reaching the podium in second position in Azerbaijan. Vettel was also second in Hungary, although he was later disqualified for lack of a liter of fuel for testing. 2021 saw him finish twelfth in the championship, ahead of teammate Stroll.
2022 started with him missing the first two rounds due to testing positive for COVID-19, but overall he has had mixed results. On 28 July 2022, through social media opened for the occasion, Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of the season.
Hate and love
It is undeniable, at least for most of the Ferraristi, that there was no deep love for Vettel in the years in which the German was at Red Bull. Seen as an opponent, having seen some of his moves, many have certainly celebrated his retirements or his defeats. With the arrival at Ferrari, everyone got to know the German better, discovering in him a much deeper and more special person. Not only has the person changed, but the way of approaching him has also changed. In recent years his fight for the environment and social causes have led him to take positions at odds with Formula 1 itself, and his retirement is partly due to this too. Everything he's doing now, he's doing because it's something he believes in, a battle to throw himself into. And that's why this sport will miss him: his transparency, the emotions he let leak out and that smile will be elements that will be missing in the paddock.
It's not goodbye, Hamilton said on Vettel's retirement, but just goodbye, and I like to think that, after all, that's actually the case. Racing is part of Sebastian's life, and one way or another, perhaps as the series becomes more in line with some environmental principles, we may see a familiar figure in the paddock again. Danke, Seb, and good continuation for your future. If you come back, we will all be here with open arms.
