Opinion: Sebastian Vettel has been pushed into an early retirement by Aston Martin's mismanagement
Sebastian Vettel has announced his retirement from the sport of F1 but it's not often that you can see the writing on the wall the way it was here. So much so that we predicted just a week ago that Vettel will retire at the end of the season.
Were the signs there? Yes, they were if you broke down the entire F1 ecosystem right now to find out that the German did not fit into it.
Aston Martin's mismanagement extravaganza
When Sebastian Vettel moved from Ferrari to Aston Martin, he did so intending to do what he does best: competing for wins and titles. He knew it wasn't possible straight away, but the potential was there. In the 18 months and more than 20 races Vettel has participated in with the team, there have only been two podium finishes (one of which has even been taken away).
The bigger concern has been the regression suffered by the team at this time. Aston Martin, in its previous iteration as Racing Point, had the third-fastest car on the grid in the 2020 F1 season. The 2021 season saw the team slump to 7th in the standings and this season has been even worse as there are no podiums to talk about unlike last time.
The man responsible for the success of Force India and Racing Point has seen himself jump camp to Alpine. In none of his interviews does Otmar Szafnaeur have anything kind to say about his previous employer. Not only that, but there are question marks about the personnel that have been signed by the team.
What is the track record of success that Mike Krack had which warranted the team principal position for him? Similarly, what is Martin Whitmarsh's role in the team? And finally, with Lance Stroll driving half of the cars in a team that his father owns, can success ever be possible?
Aston Martin is a team that is a massive work in progress right now. There are so many things that the team needs to get in line before it can start progressing. At 35 years of age, was it ever going to appeal to Sebastian Vettel? Not really!
The large-scale Saudi investment was the final nail in the coffin
Something that we stressed on even in one of our previous pieces about Sebastian Vettel's future was the motivation behind his stay in F1. For him to sign an extension in F1, he needed a car capable of fighting for wins and championships. Even if that condition is not fulfilled, he will at least want to continue to have the freedom of speed that he enjoys this season.
With the Saudi government buying shares in Aston Martin, it turned out that the freedom Sebastian Vettel enjoyed in F1 this season for his social and climate change endeavors was coming to an end. There was nothing attractive left at Aston Martin, a team Vettel wanted to stay in.
The team could not give him a car capable of fighting for championships. To add to that, it could not give him the kind of freedom that he has enjoyed throughout the season. Finally, you had a team that did not appeal to the German anymore, and just a week or so after the Saudi investment was announced, Vettel cut his ties with the team.
Where could Sebastian Vettel have gone?
Could Sebastian Vettel have gone to some other team? Were there options available? Sadly, the answer is no! Well, if Mercedes or Red Bull had come calling for Vettel, he would have jumped at the opportunity. Realistically speaking, though, those doors were never open.
At 35 years of age, even if Sebastian Vettel has all the talent in the world to compete with the best of the drivers out there, it does not guarantee a challenge at the front without the car.
For Vettel, it all came down to one choice: whether he got an opportunity to pursue his passion of driving at the front of the grid or whether he was given free rein to follow his newfound love and take steps towards that path. With the former not even an option because of Aston Martin's incompetitive streak, Vettel's decision was much easier as he decided to call time on one of the most successful careers in F1.
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Anurag C