Vettel thanks fans, to retire at year-end

BUDAPEST • Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel yesterday announced his decision to retire from Formula One at the end of this season.

The German said he wanted to spend more time with his family and that he would "take more time to reflect on what I will focus on next".

The 35-year-old added: "Today is not about saying goodbye. Rather, it is about saying thank you - to everyone - not least to the fans, without whose passionate support F1 could not exist."

Vettel's four championships came with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013. He joined Ferrari in 2014, but was unable to end the Scuderia's title drought, dating back to 2007, twice finishing runner-up in 2017 and 2018.

Since leaving the Prancing Horse last year for Aston Martin, he has yet to win a race, earning just one podium place, when he came second at last season's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

However, Vettel yesterday insisted he still "really enjoyed" his two seasons with Aston Martin, adding: "Although our results have not been as good as we had hoped, it is very clear to me that everything is being put together that a team needs to race at the very highest level for years to come.

"I hope the work I did last year and am continuing to do this year will help in the development of a team that will win in the future.

"I will work as hard as I can between now and the end of the year with that goal in mind, giving as always my best in the last 10 races."

On Vettel's retirement, Aston Martin co-owner Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance races on the same team, said: "We made it clear to (him) that we wanted him to continue with us next year, but in the end, he has done what he feels is right for himself and his family, and of course we respect that."

Vettel is not expected to be competitive at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, where his old rival Lewis Hamilton will hope to go one better and add to his record eight victories at the Hungaroring .

The seven-time world champion was second behind reigning champion and series leader, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, at Le Castellet in his 300th F1 race.

No other driver can match his record in Hungary - he has won four more races than his nearest challenger, the retired Michael Schumacher.

However, Hamilton knows that even after four consecutive podiums, he faces a daunting challenge to maintain his form, as he seeks to not only become the first driver to win nine times at the same event but also the first to win after marking 300 races in F1.

In France, he was helped by Ferrari's problems, as well as the continuing travails of Sergio Perez to recover his early-season form with Red Bull. He knows, too, that his capricious Mercedes car remains unpredictable and changeable from circuit to circuit.

That can be a dramatic factor this weekend on the testing, tight and twisty Hungaroring, a slow track with subtle elevation changes, after the smooth, open and high-speed straights and corners of the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Hamilton has earned some of his most famous victories in Hungary, but he cannot predict a repeat on a track he loves and one on which Verstappen has never triumphed.

"This year has been so confusing," he said. "It's about constantly chipping away at it. Unfortunately, we can't take big leaps at the moment, but who knows? Maybe one will come and we'll be right there."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

HUNGARIAN GP
Practice 1 (7.55pm) & 2 (10.55pm)
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