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Sebastian Vettel has admitted there were “fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked” at Ferrari but insists he will leave with no regrets despite failing in his goal to win a title with the team.
The four-time world champion had expected to remain with Ferrari beyond his current contract that expires this year, so was surprised to learn he will be replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr.
Vettel has signed a deal to join the Racing Point team instead, heading up its rebranding as Aston Martin’s works F1 outfit in 2021, and is bowing out of Ferrari with a miserable season in an uncompetitive car.
“Things that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked” :: Sebastian Vettel
His peaks at Ferrari include finishing runner-up to Lewis Hamilton twice in the 2017 and 2018 world championships but the Vettel/Ferrari relationship has been undermined by on-track errors and off-track tension.
“I don’t think I will go on having any regrets, looking back,” Vettel told F1’s official Beyond The Grid podcast.
“It is true that I have failed because I set myself the mission or the target to win the championship with Ferrari. I have failed. I didn’t manage to do that.
“There’s things that I should have done better. Things that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked.
“But, then again, I think everything that happened, brought me to where I am now.
“I’m generally not talking about stuff that happens on the track now, losing the car at Hockenheim in sort of half wet, half dry conditions [while leading the 2018 German Grand Prix].
“Many people point that one out as a low point but I’m not talking about things like that.
“I’m more talking about what’s been going on.
“If I’m fair and harsh then I have failed. Were there reasons? Probably yes. But I don’t accept them as excuses.”
“I think I had a point as well in some of these little fights and battles. Whatever” :: Sebastian Vettel
Vettel did not refer to specific fights, but he is known to be a heavily involved character within his teams and that led to friction at times with Ferrari.
In 2016 he said he wanted Ferrari to focus more on its car, which prompted a response from then-team boss Maurizio Arrivabene that Vettel himself should focus on driving.
Vettel was coaxed away from his title-winning Red Bull team by Marco Mattiacci, but never raced for him as Ferrari replaced Mattiacci before the end of 2014 with Arrivabene.
“I just think that maybe looking back they weren’t worth fighting, if you see what I mean,” said Vettel.
“But then again, part of it is probably my nature and it was natural to do so. I think I had a point as well in some of these little fights and battles. Whatever.
“But yeah, I think, ultimately, that’s how you mature and how you learn.
“I think the important bit is I don’t have the sense of regret. I’m happy to move on.”
Vettel will swap the red of Ferrari for a likely British racing green colour scheme in 2020, joking he thinks it will suit him but stressing he’s excited by “the people and the task” at his new employer.
Aston will remain a Mercedes customer team, giving Vettel access to the power unit that has beaten him every year since his last title with Renault-powered Red Bull in 2013.
Team chairman Lawrence Stroll is helping bankroll major investment into Racing Point, which with a controversial Mercedes-based design is challenging for third in the constructors’ championship this year and is regularly outperforming Ferrari.
Asked what convinced him during discussions with Stroll, Vettel said: “Well, he did. I think the fact that the team is growing. A lot of factors.
“Those boxes were quite easy to tick in terms of the performance. The racing side of things – where the team is, where the team might be, the potential, and so on.
“But more so I think it was the mindset, and the will to really do something and do something good, bring something good together.
“And it sounds like a fun project, and something that ultimately I decided I want to be part of.
“So, it is very different to Ferrari, obviously. Racing Point as it stands today, and in the future Aston Martin will be growing, there will be a lot of things happening for the first time.
“I think it’s an incredible challenging journey for the whole team and with me joining I hope I can contribute a lot of things and do good in the car and outside the car.”
Vettel has been tipped to regain stronger form in the Racing Point/Aston environment after having his confidence eroded at Ferrari.
“I love racing and I’m looking forward to go racing,” Vettel replied when asked if a return to a smaller, racing-focused team was appealing.
“As I said I don’t regret the last years and I’ve learned a lot in my time with Ferrari, about a different team, a different culture, got to make a lot of friends as well along the way.
“But yeah, certainly Ferrari is a special team in many ways, and I guess where I’m going will be different.”
