Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel has admitted that he found finishing tenth “challenging” in his final race in F1 at 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Since he arrived in F1 during 2007 season, Vettel has gone on to achieve four world titles, 53 wins and 57 pole positions as he finally brought down the curtain on his F1 career after 299 race starts in 300 entries at 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Vettel began the race in ninth position on grid and went long on his first stint on medium tyres before he switched to hard tyres at end of Lap 25, which he ran to the checkered flag on a one-stop strategy but missed out on ninth to McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Reflecting on his final race in F1 post-race, Vettel felt that “it was a shame” that he wasn’t able to snatch ninth from Ricciardo in the closing laps, as he admitted amidst distractions of tributes pre-race that he was in “full on race mode.”
Vettel though felt that his one-stop strategy was “challenging” with a tenth-placed finish whilst Aston Martin missed out on sixth in constructors’ standings on countback as he added: “On my car, we tried to make the one-stop work, but as the tyres were getting older it was quite challenging to hold on.
“It was nice to fight the last couple of laps with Daniel and to have us both finishing in the points, but we just missed out on moving up a place in the Constructors’ World Championship.”
Acknowledging that his F1 career is now over, Vettel revealed that the last few days had been “big and emotional” from a huge dinner with all of the other drivers to seeing his first-ever race suit hanging at the back of the Aston Martin garage and other tributes plus his post-race donuts.
Team Principal, Mike Krack meanwhile paid tribute to Vettel and his F1 legacy as he hailed the German as one of F1’s “all-time greats” with four titles and 53 race victories, whilst also serving as “a brilliant driver” for Aston Martin for the last two seasons with “combative” racing” of his best ability.