Aston Martin team principal, Mike Krack, has no questions as to Sebastian Vettel’s commitment as he enters the final eight races of his Formula 1 career.
Vettel signed with Aston Martin last year from Ferrari, and finished second at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, before achieving the same result in Budapest, where he was later disqualified for a fuel infringement.
The German has scored points six times so far in 2022, and the car has proven a troublesome one – particularly in qualifying.
He and Lance Stroll have put 24 points on the board between them this year, and the Silverstone-based team sit ninth in the Constructors’ Standings as a result, with only Williams below them.
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This has been a far cry from the form that had them battling for third two years ago, and certainly a lot different to the championship winning Red Bull Vettel had the pleasure of driving between 2010 and 2013.
With his focus starting to drift elsewhere and transcend the pinnacle of motorsport, the four-time champion decided to call time on his career ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
He will be replaced by fellow world champion Fernando Alonso, who will arrive from Alpine, but what has not yet been decided is exactly what he will do next.
Staying on with the team in some capacity is a possibility, but Krack will let his compatriot think about that before speaking discussing it with him.
“We haven’t spoken about it, to be honest, also, because the announcement came just before the shutdown, and I think we have to also to let him time to think about it,” he said.
“He needs to make plans, and I think, probably before he does something else, he will want to have a bit of time off also, so we have not spoken about it.”
Despite the inundation of tributes being paid to Vettel, Krack assures that everyone at the team is going about business as usual until the end of the season.
“I saw a flag with ‘Thank you, Sebastian’, and was asked is this the farewell tour now, and it’s not at all,” he added.
“We do not see it as a [farewell], we will do a little farewell at the end of the season, but until then we will give it everything, because we still have a bit of gap to close to some constructors ahead.
“And we really cannot finish in the position we are in now.
“I think it is more going out to the airport, sitting in the planes, where maybe he thinks more about the family and stuff like that, but I think when he’s in the car he’s fully focused.”
The 35-year-old is also giving his input for next season’s Aston Martin challenger.
“Yes, yes, and that is there where you see also how professional he is and how committed he still is,” stated Krack.
“Actually, in the debrief he said something today, ‘for next year’s car, please, think about that,’ So he’s fully on it.”
Krack is also confident that there will no slacking off from his driver, who will remain committed until the end.
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“Ah no, that is not his character, I mean he’s a professional and he will give everything until the last moment,” he explained.
“It is also something that the first thing that he said when he was informing us to stop was that he will give it everything until the end, and we have seen it today [Sunday, at the Belgian Grand Prix].”
Vettel finished eighth in Spa last weekend, lifting him to 12th in the Drivers’ Standings on 20 points.