Vettel reveals what convinced him to join 'fun project' at Aston Martin F1 Team
Sebastian Vettel says all the boxes “were easy to tick” when he decided to join the Aston Martin Formula 1 team for 2021.
The four-time world champion will link up with Racing Point when it rebrands into the Aston Martin F1 Team next year after Ferrari decided against offering Vettel a new deal for 2021 and beyond.
Vettel will replace Sergio Perez – who has been left without a seat on the grid for next season – and partner Lance Stroll to complete the Silverstone-based outfit’s revised driver line-up.
Racing Point is currently enjoying an upward trajectory with its hotly debated and controversial RP20 challenger, which has helped the team contest in a monumental fight over third place in the constructors’ championship this year.
Speaking to the official F1 podcast Beyond the Grid, Vettel revealed the main factors which ultimately influenced his decision.
Asked what had convinced him to join Aston Martin, Vettel replied: "Lawrence did, and the fact that the team is growing. There were a lot of factors.
“Those boxes were easy to tick, in terms of performance, the racing side of things: where the team is, where the team might be. The potential and so on. But moreso it was the mindset and the will to really do something, and do something good, bring something together.
“It sounds like a fun project, something I ultimately decided to be part of. It is very different to Ferrari, there will be a lot of things happening for the first time.
“It is an incredible challenging journey for the whole team, and with me joining, I hope I can contribute to a lot of things and do good inside and outside of the car.”
While Vettel believes he has ultimately “failed” during a difficult period at Ferrari that did not bring about any championship titles, the German insists he does not have regrets looking back on his time with the Scuderia.
"I don't think I will go on, having any regrets looking back. It is true that I have failed because I set myself the mission or the target to win the championship with Ferrari, so I have failed because I didn’t manage to do that.
“There are things that maybe I should have done better, things that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that I shouldn’t have picked. But then again, everything that has happened brought me to where I am now.
“I am generally not talking about stuff that happens on the track now, losing the car in Hockenheim, many people point that out as a low point but I’m not talking about things like that. I’m more talking about what’s been going on.
“If I am fair and harsh, then I have failed. Were there reasons? Probably yes. But I don't accept them as excuses. Whatever happened, brought me to the next step forward.”
Vettel said that his long-term goals is to achieve “happiness” after admitting his love for F1 and his priorities have changed over the years.
"Short term I am changing teams,” he explained. “As much as it is difficult to expect things, I have things in my head and mind that I want to achieve and I measure myself against.
“That’s normal. But being happy, growing, basically never stop learning. Being content on who you are.”
