formula 1
Vettel’s review: abundance of successes “enormous luxury”
Sebastian Vettel comments on his last career victory. photo
© Lim Yong Teck/AP/dpa
On September 22, 2019, Sebastian Vettel will once again raise his Vettel finger into the Singapore night sky. It is his last Grand Prix success. How does it feel to say goodbye to winning years later?
A fireworks display over Singapore’s Marina Bay leaves Sebastian Vettel shines once again. It is the night of September 22nd, 2019 when the four-time world champion has to say goodbye to winning. But the German didn’t know that at the time.
In the Ferrari duel in front of his Formula 1 stable rival Charles Leclerc, Vettel races to his 53rd and, as it later turns out, last Grand Prix success. What remains of it? “My last Formula 1 race was much more emotionally charged because I knew it was the last race. But with the last win, you don’t know that it’s the last win, unless it was the last race ,” Vettel told the German Press Agency with a smile before the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.
Vettel’s “enormous luxury”
“I would have liked there to be more victories. But I’m not sad that it wasn’t like that. I can’t remember all of my victories and that’s an enormous luxury,” said the now 36-year-old Vettel continues.
The Heppenheimer won Formula 1 for the first time in Monza in 2008, and eleven years later for the last time. And what a victory it was! At the time, Vettel was in the middle of a power struggle with Leclerc for supremacy at Scuderia. In Singapore, the Ferrari strategists had guided the Hessian to change tires first and thus to victory. Leclerc felt betrayed and struggled to smile as he watched the celebration in front of the team garage. “I need a few more explanations as to why this decision was made,” complained the Monegasque.
So much adrenaline, so much trouble. Vettel is far from that today. He was never able to fulfill his longed-for world title with Ferrari; after two years at Aston Martin, he ended his career in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year. Vettel, who is committed to sustainability and environmental protection, is still looking for a new professional path today.
Cutting ties with Formula 1 is difficult
Formula 1 won’t let him go. She was his life, so cutting the cord is difficult. He doesn’t even rule out resigning. It was only last weekend that Vettel put on racing overalls again. At a Red Bull show event on the legendary Nordschleife at the Nürburgring, he drove an RB7. In this car he celebrated his second world title in 2011.
Max Verstappen now has that many. His third triumph is only a matter of weeks away. “He’s now in a situation where he can control things and implements that control to perfection. I’m following the races this year and I find it admirable what he’s doing. I know, in some ways, from my own experience, how difficult it is “To have a series like this where everything is going well and you’re at the very highest point of your abilities. The other drivers can’t do that at the moment,” said Vettel, praising the Red Bull dominator from the Netherlands. “You could say that Max’s car is superior, that may be the case, but still the other drivers don’t do the same job as Max, they make too many mistakes and are not quite as alert and attentive as him here or there at the moment.”
Successful series also require “clarity in the head”
Verstappen recently surpassed Vettel’s previous record of nine Grand Prix successes in a row at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. In Singapore, the 25-year-old was able to extend the record to eleven. “People like to say: If it’s going well, then it’s going. You don’t notice that moment when it’s going so well. In moments when things aren’t going well, you often long for it and you try to get back in,” Vettel remembered his own series from 2013, when he was also successful nine times in a row in the Red Bull.
A lot of things would have to come together “on a run like this.” “It’s of course the car, the team, but also your own performance, the clarity of mind, the balance, also life outside the race track,” explained Vettel, whose last Formula 1 victory saw Verstappen come third. “Everything has to come together so that things run consistently well.” Just like Verstappen.