“He’s happy” - Sebastian Vettel has no remorse on his retirement decision despite Aston Martin’s resurgence

Sebastian Vettel is happy at home and reached out to Aston Martin to congratulate the team for their podium finish in Bahrain. Vettel was the lead driver at Aston Martin last season when he decided to retire from the sport. Since then, his place has been taken by Fernando Alonso, and that has coincided with the team's resurgence in F1.

Alonso secured a podium for the team in Bahrain and showed impressive pace, and suggestions were made that Vettel might have not timed his retirement perfectly.

Aston Martin engineer Mikey Brown, though, revealed that the German was in fact happy for the team and called after Alonso secured the podium. To add to that, the German does not show any signs of a driver who wants to come back to F1. He said:

"He is so personal, and he got on very well with everyone, not just me. He texted me after the race; he didn’t have to do it. but he said how happy he is for us. He’s happy he’s at home doing what he wanted to do with his kids”

There were others as well in the paddock who missed the German's presence in Bahrain. One of them was Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz as he talked about how drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were big personalities and that their absence is felt. In his Ted's notebook segment, he said:

“I must say there are two notable exceptions to F1 in 2023. We do miss their presence, and I’m talking about Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel. And you know what? I felt this on Thursday when we started. and I feel it now, I just miss those guys. They were big personalities.”

He added:

“And yes, I know Daniel Ricciardo is a reserve driver for Red Bull Racing; he might be around, but they were big personalities. And you know, if F1 is to continue its popularity, then some of these drivers need to step up and become and develop and be those big personalities to replace those guys that we’ve lost to the sport.”

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Can the current crop fill Sebastian Vettel's shoes?

Kravitz added that the new crop of drivers would eventually fill the shoes of the Vettel and Ricciardo as he acknowledged how much he missed the duo on the grid. He said:

“I’m sure they will do, (it) always happens, always has happened in F1, but it’s just a sign of what a great draw Danny Ric and Seb were that we do feel that we miss them.”

Sebastian Vettel retired from the sport as a four-time world champion at a somewhat young age of 35. Could he be tempted to return to the sport? Fans will hold their breath to see if that happens.