Four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel says that he has failed to win another championship since leaving Redbull because ‘there are fights maybe he shouldn’t have picked during his tenure at Ferrari.
Earlier this year, Ferrari announced that, the 33-year-old who had joined them back in 2015, will be leaving at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season. Vettel said later that he didnt have any regrets on his side but also admitted that he failed because he set himself the mission and the target to win the world championship with Ferrari.
“There’s things that I should have done better, things that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked. But then again, I think everything that happened brought me to where I am now,” he said in an interview for the official F1 website.
“I’m generally not talking about the stuff that happens on the track. Losing the car in Hockenheim in sort of half-wet, half-dry conditions – many people point that one out as a low point. But I’m not talking about things like that, I’m more talking about what’s been going on.”
“So if I’m fair and harsh, then I have failed. Were there reasons? Probably, yes. But I don’t accept them as excuses so whatever happened also, I guess, put me on the next step forward and next level to focus on.”
Sebastian Vettel said that he had picked fights that when looking back, they weren’t worth fighting,
“But then again part of it is probably my nature and it was natural to do so. And I think I had a point as well in some of these some of these little fights and battles, whatever. But I think ultimately that’s how you mature and how you learn.” he added.
After leaving Ferrari, Vettel will join Racing Point, which is to be rebranded as Aston Martin for the 2021 F1 season. He said team owner Lawrence Stroll convinced him to make the move.
“I think the fact is that the team is growing, there’s a lot of factors. So I think those boxes were quite easy to tick in terms of the performance, the racing side of things. Where the team is, where the team might be, the potential and so on.” Vettel continued.
“But more so, I think it was the mindset and the will to really do something good, bring something good together. And it sounds like a fun project and something that ultimately I decided I want to be part of. So it is very different to Ferrari.”
“Obviously Racing Point as it stands today and in the future Aston Martin will be growing, there will be a lot of things happening for the first time. I think it’s an incredible, challenging journey for the whole team and me joining I hope I can contribute a lot of things and do good in the car and outside the car.”
Vettel has stayed for sometime without getting a victory, having won his last race in Singapore over an year ago making it his 53rd win in his career. This makes him one of the most successful Formula 1 drivers of all times in terms of grand prix victories ranking third behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. However, Vettel said he is not sure if he is proud of the statistic.
“It’s not fair if you compare to the past because they have way fewer races than us today,” Vettel explained. “So it’s a bit fake in my opinion.
“They did a lot of races, probably in other categories. So you have to add those as well. But they’re not grands prix so I get the statistics.”
