Vettel couldn’t quite follow in his hero’s footsteps
dubai — The Formula One season may still be in a holding pattern with the V6 engines yet to roar in anger and the smell of burnt rubber from the tarmac because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But a piece of news emanating from a quaint town in northern Italy has set the wheels in motion for a driver merry-go-round.
Ferrari, the most glamorous team in the world of Formula One, announced on Tuesday that they and their driver Sebastian Vettel, the four-time world champion, were parting ways after this season.
His future with the scarlet red had been up in the air for a while with the German entering
Sebastian Vettel has won 14 races with Ferrari and 53 overall in his career. -
the final year of his contract.
But with Vettel and the team making no headway in agreeing to the new terms, both parties decided to pull the steering wheel.
It will bring to an end a fiveyear stint with the Maranellobased marquee and also an unfulfilled dream of emulating his countryman and hero Michael Schumacher, the seven-time world champion, in winning a world title with the Scuderia.
Vettel, who won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009, and also clinched his 2010 and 2012 world titles in the UAE capital, becomes the second driver in succession after Spaniard Fernando Alonso not to have won a world championship in the red overalls.
A drive with Ferrari and winning a world title with them is what every racing driver dreams of when he enters the sport. But, sadly, for Vettel, it won’t be, unless he pulls off a miracle this season.
His future is not known but what it has done is opened up the drivers’ market.
For one, a highly prized seat remains vacant at Ferrari with Carlos Sainz Jr, son of double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz Sr, highly tipped to replace the German.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, currently at Renault, is also in the mix and so is Lewis Hamilton, although the six-time world champion is a long shot. Speaking on a
panel prior to Ferrari’s announcement, Indian F1 driver Karun Chandhok had said: “Someone like Carlos Sainz, he’s not had a chance with a top three team. So, he’s desperate for that opportunity to show what he could do in a top team. Being at Ferrari obviously gives him that opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Vettel’s path is unclear. It is for him to decide whether he wants to join McLaren or Renault or perhaps do what Alonso did in Abu Dhabi in 2018 by saying ‘Danke.’