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Sebastian Vettel ends his career at Aston Martin

Esome will breathe a sigh of relief, finally: Vettel will stop at the end of the season! The news of the day of Formula 1 this Thursday triggered completely different reactions from the outside. Eulogies for the German racing driver, the four-time world champion. What an excellent pilot. Maybe a bit old after the unworthy end at Ferrari and the unfulfilled dream of victory in an Aston Martin. But three days before the Grand Prix in Hungary on Sunday (3 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky), the 35-year-old from Heppenheim had to be honored.

Do you remember that sensational first win in Toro Rosso in 2008? On the cult slope of Monza, in the rain. No sooner had Michael Schumacher left the stage in 2006 than another German stirred up the industry. It was probably fortunate that only the boss of the BMW team at the time recognized the maturity for the premier class, did not assert himself and Vettel ended up at Red Bull, the institution for very hard, very challenging, but unerring promotion of gifted people: fast, intelligent, tech-savvy and very ambitious.

Vettel has other than Formula 1 in mind

The junior trainer, Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost, suspected what could become of it: youngest world champion, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. The story of the boy from Hesse, who first had to learn to lose, as Ferrari’s hope received as a legitimate Schumacher successor, but then not treated appropriately and finally fired in a telephone conversation by Ferrari’s team boss Mattia Binotto, could be told very quickly. At Formula 1 pace. 53 races won in 15 years. There are only two so far that have been more successful. Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91). Vettel hardly says anything about it.

Not a word about what Charles Leclerc, his successor at Ferrari, is painfully aware of. That in the fight for the world championship hardly any mistakes are allowed in the cockpit, a team has to work almost perfectly and stand behind the chief pilot one hundred percent. Trust is key. Vettel lost that at Ferrari.

Clear message: Sebastian Vettel


Clear message: Sebastian Vettel
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Image: Imago

But there is another trust that accompanied him for a long time, but which has crumbled in recent years, quite apart from the conviction that he can still take every corner at the limit or still feel like attacking at full throttle. Did you see Vettel on the last corner of last Sunday’s French Grand Prix trying to pass team-mate Lance Stroll in the final meters? Or how he shot through the old town of Baku, missing the walls by a hair’s breadth. Still a racer, even in the average Aston Martin.

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