Brendan Lines 10th Sept, 2020

Four time World Champion Sebastian Vettel has signed with Racing Point for season 2021 ‘and beyond’ the team confirmed on Thursday, the same day driver Sergio Perez parted with the Silverstone-based team.

Vettel’s future has been the centre of Formula 1’s best or worst kept secret, after his current team Ferrari did not offer the German a contract, opting to sign Spaniard Carlos Sainz in May.

Though Vettel has been aloof about his future prospects in Formula 1, the 33-year old had been linked to the team by many ‘convenient’ sightings, ‘elbow bumping’ with its owner Lawrence Stroll and car-pooling with Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer across the Silverstone Grands Prix weekends in July.

“Everybody at Silverstone is hugely excited by this news. Sebastian is a proven champion and brings a winning mentality that matches our own ambitions for the future as Aston Martin F1 Team,” Szafnauer said.

“On a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, Sebastian is one of the best in the world, and I can’t think of a better driver to help take us into this new era. He will play a significant role in taking this team to the next level.

At the time of writing, Vettel stands as a 53-time race winner, putting him third on the all-time list of Grand Prix victors with Michael Schmacher and Lewis Hamilton, Vettel has a further 67 podium finishes to his name.

The German’s qualifying speed is equally impressive, starting on the front row of the grid 101 times throughout his career to date – 57 of which were from pole position.

Having claimed four consecutive titles with Red Bull Racing between 2010 – 2013 and multiple Grands Prix victories with Scuderia Ferrari in the years since.
“I am pleased to finally share this exciting news about my future. I’m extremely proud to say that I will become an Aston Martin driver in 2021. It’s a new adventure for me with a truly legendary car company,” Vettel said.

“I have been impressed with the results the team has achieved this year and I believe the future looks even brighter. The energy and commitment of Lawrence [Stroll] to the sport is inspiring and I believe we can build something very special together.

“I still have so much love for Formula 1 and my only motivation is to race at the front of the grid. To do so with Aston Martin will be a huge privilege.”

Undoubtedly Vettel is one of the most accomplished and respected drivers in world motorsport and he knows what it takes to win at the highest level.

However, his time with Ferrari hasn’t yielded the success Vettel would have hoped, as he follwed in the footsteps of his childhood hero in Shumacher.

Some unforced errors, like crashing out at his home Grand Prix, a struggling Ferrari in the wake of it’s ‘secret’ engine deal with the FIA, and the emergence of teammate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari’s ‘Golden child’ — we simply haven’t seen the Sebastian Vettel equally revered and feared as a competitor in his time at the Scuderia.

There is one parallel between his tenure at Red Bull and new team Racing Point, in that they are new (or newish) teams on the up with the will to prove themselves against the establishment of the likes of Mercedes is an environment Vettel thrives — four consecutive World Championships is proof of that.

We are sure to see the same hop in Vettel’s step return as the first win, the first pole, the first front-row lockout, the first podium… the first win — all opportunities Racing Point albeit Aston Martin are capable of providing.

With the stage set for 2021, Vettel still has the job are hand to wave the Ferrari flag high at Mugello this week for the Scuderia’s 1000th Grand Prix appreance.