Sebastian Vettel has revealed the challenges he enjoys that helped convince him to stay on in Formula 1 with Aston Martin in 2022. Rumours had abounded that the four-time World Champion may decide to call it quits at the end of the 2021 season, speculation fuelled by a lengthy delay over confirming his plans. But Vettel has no intention of leaving the sport just yet, and explained what it is that he still loves about F1. "The driving! I think, the competitiveness, obviously. I love driving. I love winning," he told media, including RacingNews365.com . "Next year, a lot of things are changing. I don't think anybody's guaranteed to win. But I think that challenge of working with the team... I think the team is great, I like the guys. It's been a great season, maybe not in terms of results, but in terms of working. Morale is high, so there's a lot of things that excite me." "Obviously, there's some things that over the period of so many years you enjoy less, like being here now and answering questions!" Vettel then joked. Aston Martin this week announced the hiring of former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh , who will become Group CEO for Aston Martin Performance Technologies and has been tasked with helping the F1 team climb to become championship contenders within the next four or five seasons. Asked about the possibility of the team rising to the top, and whether he has the patience to hang on until then, Vettel said it's simply a case of "time will tell". "It does [excite me], otherwise I wouldn't be here. I think the four- or five-year horizon is fair, in terms of looking back to other teams, how long it took other teams to climb to the top," he commented. "I think the vision and the commitment the team has... the vision is impressive, and the commitment is very high. It might be less but, you never know, it might be longer. I feel that where the team is going sets a very promising direction, and I feel it will happen. "Time will tell. I don't know. I'm not getting younger. It's not my first year in Formula 1, so we'll see what happens."
Most read