Sebastian Vettel andAston Martin, after a difficult start to the season, ad Imola they won their first points of the season. An encouraging sign to see both riders in the top 10, but the real concern is the future of the team and the conditions in which the 4-time world champion in particular is heading towards the end of his career, made up of great successes and disappointments.
Interviewed by BILD, Hag came back to talk about the subject training camp, specifying how much this depends primarily on the performance of theAston Martin and the development of AMR22, which could be his last single-seater, to which among other things, Sebastian, has not yet given a name. Rumors of a retirement became more and more insistent as the problems continued for the German driver who, due to his positive Covid, was only able to participate in the weekend in Australia, culminating in a retreat.
The contract of Hag with Aston Martin will expire at end of season 2022. "I'm still here", he said Hag to the European newspaper BILD. “My contract expires at the end of the year. A decision it hasn't been taken yet. Depends on how strong the car is, how the team develops and how the races go. But I don't have to lie, my future is a problem coming my way. And I'm dealing with it."
It would therefore be the "how are the races going" to be the determining factor. Furthermore, it is necessary to reevaluate what the objectives of Sebastian who hasn't won a race, much less finished on the podium since 2019, when he still wore the colors of Ferrari.
mike krack, team principal ofAston Martin, said ad Imola, Seat of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, who would like a Hag motivated and determined to stay with the team also in the 2023. However, Krack admitted that the German, like everyone in the team, needs to see men progress to continue believing in the project and prolong his stay with the team and the Formula 1.
"I won't talk about contracts yet but obviously if you have a driver like Sebastian Vettel who you can keep motivated by giving him the car he deserves with the quality of his driving, I think you'd be silly not to try to keep him" - he said Krack after Imola - “He wants to see progress; he wants to see the car going because he's not a driver who wants to fight for P18 or P16 or whatever. So I fully understand his comments and it is up to us to provide the necessary tools for his performance ”.
A future far from Formula 1
About his future Sebastian Vettel said: “The truth is that I have many ideas, I talk to many people and I am easily inspired”. Among the opportunities that are emerging we cannot fail to mention the evident interest in environmentalism and sustainability.
“I'm not putting pressure on myself to create the next perfect career tomorrow,” he said Hag. “I don't want to raise expectations about finding the perfect. I've found something in Formula 1 that I'm very good at. Something where I can compete with the best in the world. What comes next, time will tell.
“I said two years ago 'I'm going to drive for another two years'. But I don't think about the future every day."
