Sebastian Vettel

Vettel, who is racing with Aston Martin, is currently placed 14th on this year's championship standings. "The decision to retire has been a difficult one for me ...

His 13 race wins in 2013 knotted him up with compatriot Michael Schumacher for the most ever in a single F1 season. He has failed to win a single race over the last two seasons, with his last win coming at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. He also holds the record for the most pole positions in a season (15), the most laps led in a season (739), most consecutive race wins (nine), most consecutive grand slams (two) and most wins from pole position in a single season (nine).

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has announced he is retiring from Formula One at the end of the season.

He has driven some fantastic races for us, and, behind the scenes, his experience and expertise with our engineers have been extremely valuable.” He will call time on his F1 career at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi which will be his 300th meeting. “At the end of the year I want to take some more time to reflect on what I will focus on next,” he said. “But in the end he has done what he feels is right for himself and his family, and of course we respect that. These are issues he is likely to continue to pursue but he did not reveal his plans for the future. He stayed with Ferrari until the end of 2020 and joined Aston Martin in 2021 but has not won a race since the Singapore Grand Prix in 2019.

This is it. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season.

“Aston Martin is a great project, with unlimited potential, and the groundwork that Sebastian has done last year, and is still doing this year, is crucial. Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll said: “I want to thank Sebastian from the bottom of my heart for the great work that he has done for Aston Martin over the past year and a half. Team Principal Mike Krack added: “Sebastian is a superb driver – fast, intelligent and strategic – and of course we are going to miss those qualities.

"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 ...

"Sebastian is a superb driver - fast, intelligent and strategic - and of course we are going to miss those qualities. "He has driven some fantastic races for us, and, behind the scenes, his experience and expertise with our engineers have been extremely valuable. We will give him a fabulous send-off." All in. "I have really enjoyed working with such a great bunch of people. But today is not about saying goodbye.

Vettel is out of contract with Aston Martin at the end of this season and, after weeks of speculation about his future, has now confirmed he will be stepping ...

The energy it takes to become one with the car and the team, to chase perfection takes focus and commitment. I believe that there is still a race to win. Children are our future, further I feel there is so much to explore and learn about life and about myself. My passion comes with certain aspects that I have learned to dislike. "My passion with racing and Formula One comes with lots of time spent away from them, and takes a lot of energy. "Committing to my passion the way I did and the way I think it is right, does no longer go side by side with my wish to be a great father and husband.

Four-times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel will retire from the sport at the end of the season, saying that racing was increasingly in conflict ...

I have grown other interests outside Formula One." But as much as there is life on track, there's my life off track too. "I love this sport.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has announced he will retire at the end of the 2022 F1 season, ignoring pleas from Aston Martin to stay for a ...

“He has driven some fantastic races for us, and, behind the scenes, his experience and expertise with our engineers have been extremely valuable. “The decision to retire has been a difficult one for me to take, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about it,” Vettel said in a statement. “But today is not about saying goodbye.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will retire from Formula 1 at the conclusion of the 2022 season, bringing down the curtain on a grand prix CV ...

He later admitted this was payback for Webber ignoring a similar team order in Brazil the year before, when Vettel was trying to win his third world title. Vettel’s buffer when he crossed the line to Fernando Alonso is second place was 32.6 seconds, resulting in jeering from the crowd during the podium ceremony, so bored they were of his dominance. Picking a race Vettel led lights-to-flag and finished over half a minute clear of the field may seem like an odd one to pick as my favourite. Vettel continued his charge down to Sepang’s Turn 4, and carved into the lead on the outside. The other piece of brilliance from this race was Vettel’s pass to retake the lead from Alonso. Having been called off his lap one resurgence by the safety car, Vettel was all over the Ferrari after the restart. Vettel quickly worked his way into the top eight to run where he needed to be at the time. Vettel was fourth on the grid, with Alonso down in eighth. This was because Fernando Alonso produced a simply amazing start to roar from fourth to the lead – kicking up dust getting around Hamilton and Vettel as he skirted with the grass lining the track edge. Alonso was geared to cover off the Australian primarily, however, and that first allowed Vettel to streak to a beautiful pole position. That meant the Scuderia had to attempt to strategically cover off two cars rather than one in the final race of the season. And after infamously colliding with team-mate Webber in Turkey and spinning with Jenson Button at Spa, Vettel would barely put a foot wrong for the remainder of the campaign. The Faenza outfit had been bought out by Dietrich Mateschitz and turned into the Red Bull junior team, Toro Rosso, for 2006, but achieved little by way of results before Vettel was brought in to replace Scott Speed midway through the 2007 season.

Lewis Hamilton has praised rival Sebastian Vettel for supporting his anti-racism campaigning, after the four-time world champion confirmed he will retire ...

I could see how professional he was and it gave me a good insight into how you need to behave and how you need to be, to be a successful F1 driver like he was. I wish him the best and we will miss him. To see him go is something that you can see coming. (It's) not the news that I want. "He has been one of the very, very few drivers in racing history that has stood for much more than himself. Obviously personally, I spent some time alongside him which was a privilege.

Following the announcement of his retirement, F1 rival Lewis Hamilton said Sebastian Vettel is "one of the greatest people" F1 has ever had.

It's really kind of been him standing out into the uncomfortable light and trying to do something with the platform that we have and I think that's why for me he's very much unlike any other drivers that have been here, past or present." "He's been so supportive to me and I'd like to think I've supported him also. "I think he's one of the greatest people we've seen in this sport and we need more like him. But I do hope it will be in a better place and we have not wasted our time." Over time we've started to see one another take those brave steps and standing up for things we believe in and been able to support each other. he's been so brave in speaking out and standing for what he believes in.

Vettel plans to remain in his Aston Martin for the remainder of the current schedule before ending his 15-year driving career.

“The decision to retire has been a difficult one for me to take, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about it,” Vettel said. It is very clear to me that, being a father, I want to spend more time with my family. “But today is not about saying goodbye. “He’s had an amazing career, he’s won a lot of races, he’s won a lot of championships as well ... he’s a great ambassador for the sport.” News on Thursday night (AEST) of his departure at the end of the season nonetheless triggered an outpouring of appreciation, with the Aston Martin driver hailed as a “legend”, “inspiration”, “ambassador”, “one of the all-time greats” and “class act”. “At the end of the year, I want to take some more time to reflect on what I will focus on next.