Sebastian Vettel bid farewell to Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi, bowing out of the sport with a Q3 appearance and a point scoring finish in the season finale.
The German has had a world class career in the sport, winning four consecutive world titles during his time with Red Bull before moving on to Ferrari and Aston Martin.
Vettel has said that his reasoning behind his decision to retire is that he would like to be able to focus him time and energy on something other than Formula 1, that with the ever growing calendar does not allow much time for other interests.
The 35-year-old has said that he is excited for the next part of his journey, and that if he ever returns to race in Formula 1 then he will be disappointed in himself, as it means that he has failed in his ventures elsewhere.
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Ex-F1 driver Damon Hill has suggested that while it is unlikely that Vettel will ever return to the grid to race in F1 again, he expects the German to be back involved in the sport in the not too distant future.
“We haven’t seen the last of him,” claimed Hill.
“He’ll be back in Formula 1 in some capacity, because we’re interested in him. He has been a huge part of this sport, so he will be back to contribute in some way.
“But I think he probably needs a bit of space and perspective. That certainly was my experience anyway.”
Vettel has rejected claims that he would consider taking up a third driver role, similar to Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull, saying that he does not see the point in still travelling to every race weekend to just ‘do nothing’.
Hill has claimed that Vettel is too young to step away from motorsport forever, suggesting that the German just needs a break after 15 years racing in Formula 1.
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“He will be able to wake up at the start of 2023 and make his own schedule, which is liberating but also quite scary,” he explained.
“He’s very young. I stopped when I was 40. How old is he? 35, so still, very, very young really.”
Vettel himself has admitted that he does not know how he will be feeling after a couple of years away from Formula 1, but does not plan to return to Formula 1 after dedicating his entire life so far to the motorsport.