Sebastian Vettel is preparing this weekend for his final Singapore Grand Prix, which interestingly, is the last circuit he won at in Formula 1.
The soon-to-be retired four-time World Champion claimed victory at the most recent race at the Marina Bay Circuit for Ferrari, with the championship having not returned since following the Coronavirus pandemic.
It’s safe to say that a victory this weekend is all but certainly off the cards, with the German likely to be targeting a points finish.
It’s been a challenging season for Vettel at Aston Martin, with the AMR22 being arguably the second weakest car on the grid.
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The 35-year-old has claimed six points finishes this season, out of the 16 completed races.
Vettel currently finds himself P13 in the Drivers’ Championship on 20 points, with many expecting the German to take it easy in his final races as an F1 driver.
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has denied that anything of the sort will happen, with the German having promised to “give it everything until the end”.
“He is a professional and he will give everything until the last moment,” said Krack.
“The first thing that he said when he informed us that he would stop was that he will give it everything until the end.”
With his retirement rapidly approaching, there is no confirmation as to what Vettel will do next, apart from spend time with his family.
The German will be competing in his 11th Race of Champions in January; however, beyond that nothing is known.
Krack revealed that the team haven’t spoken to Vettel about a potential role as an Aston Martin ambassador, but did admit “it’s very interesting”.
“It’s very interesting,” said the Aston Martin boss.
“We have not spoken about it, to be honest.
“He needs to make plans and I think probably before he does something else, he will want to have a bit of time off.”
Of course, Vettel is set to be replaced by double World Champion Fernando Alonso, who is leaving Alpine at the end of the year in order to take the German’s place.
The main issue for the Silverstone-based team is that they can’t discuss much regarding 2023 with the oldest driver on the grid, with Krack aware that he needs to “clarify” what discussions Alpine will allow Aston Martin to have with Alonso.
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“We need to clarify what we can do and what we cannot do,” added Krack.
“He is an Alpine driver and we are Aston Martin and the contract starts at the beginning of next year.
“So anything between, that is not possible.”