Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel says he will not "back off" in the last nine Grands Prix of his career as he prepares to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season. Vettel, a four-time World Champion, announced just before the Hungarian Grand Prix that he will call time on his 16-season long career at the end of 2022, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and that his priorities had changed from racing. One of the most experienced drivers of all time, Vettel currently sits seventh on the all-time list of most F1 starts with 290. Provided he starts every race between the Belgian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, the German will retire with 299 race starts to his name, and he is determined to approach the final set races in the same way he has throughout his career.
Vettel determined to end as he raced
"I will not back off until the end, I know how this job needs to be done," 53-time race winner Vettel said to media, including RacingNews365.com , after a 10th place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix. "And that's how I would like to do it to the end. "Seeing the people around the grandstands is nice because, I'd probably not have that type of feeling again, but then again, I've been lucky to have had it for so many years. "So everything comes to an end. My story will at the end of the year and another story will begin."
Vettel highlights Aston Martin strengths and weaknesses
The Vettel/Aston Martin relationship has only yielded meagre pickings for a driver accustomed to chasing pole positions, podiums and race victories. Indeed, Vettel took the first, and to date, only podium finish for the team in the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – although he finished second in that year's race in Hungary, but was disqualified for a fuel infringement. In 2022, the team have failed to take a step closer to the established big three outfits, and languish ninth in the Constructors' Championship with 20 points. Vettel has 16 of those, with a best result of sixth in Baku, and feels that Sundays are Aston's biggest strength. "[The] last two years, I find it very hard [to fight] for points," he explained. "I think everybody is [looking forward to the summer break], and then I think we will try to have a better [car on a] Saturday. "That's our weakness and [on] Sunday's we can be very strong. "So there seems to be some some homework to do."
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