4-time F1 champion Vettel felt like retiring for a long time

BUDAPEST, Hungary: Sebastian Vettel considered retiring from Formula One for quite some time before finally announcing Thursday this season will be his last. The German, who joined Instagram on Wednesday, used the platform one day later to announce he plans to spend more time with his family and work on causes close to his heart. Vettel won his four F1 titles from 2010 to 2013 with Red Bull, but his last victory was with Ferrari in 2019.

His best finish this season with Aston Martin is sixth. “I feel that obviously this decision has been in my head for so long now, and has taken so much energy to be honest, and maybe even at times distracted me,” he said Thursday. “There was a lot of thought leading into this.

I think it’s the right time for me to do other things. “So much dedication means also a lot of time spent in your head, in your thoughts, but also physically away from home, from kids, family,” added the 35-year-old. “I’ve grown other things, other than the children who are growing, it’s other interests and views.

I can’t ignore these voices.” He has been increasingly outspoken on environmental issues. “It’s one of the one of the factors that definitely played a role,” he added. “I understand that part of my passion, my job is coming with things that I’m not a fan of, obviously, traveling the world, racing cars, burning resources.

Once you see these things, and once you’re aware, then I don’t think you can really unsee.” Vettel has won 53 races, the third-highest total in F1 behind Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91). He won an F1 record 13 races in 2013. Vettel became the youngest world champion at 23 in 2010 and later became the third driver to win four consecutive championships after F1 greats Juan