Sebastian Vettel believes he failed during his six-year stint with Ferrari and is excited to be moving on to a new challenge with Aston Martin next year.
The four-time Formula One world champion joined Ferrari on the back of a disappointing 2014 campaign with Red Bull.
The German has since netted 14 Grand Prix victories with a best championship result of runner-up on two separate occasions. However, he was never able to trouble the dominant Mercedes outfit across a full season.
Following a difficult 2019 season where young teammate Charles Leclerc comfortably outmatched him, Vettel found himself unceremoniously dropped from the team he helped rebuild into race winners.
Now looking back on his time at the Scuderia, Vettel admits he failed to achieve what was expected by him from the start. But he insisted he has no regrets in leaving Ferrari next year.
“I don’t think I will go on having any regrets looking back,” Vettel told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“It is true that I have failed because I set myself the mission of the target to win the world championship with Ferrari; I failed, I didn’t manage to do that.
“There are things that I should have done better, something that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked.
“But then again, I think everything that happened brought me to where I am now; you see what I mean?
“If I’m fair and harsh, then I have failed. Were there reasons? Probably yes but I don’t accept them as excuses. Whatever happened also, I guess put me on the next step forward and the next level to focus on the next thing.
“Again I think the important bit is I don’t have the sense of regret. I’m happy to move on…”
Following months of speculation, Vettel’s move from Ferrari to Aston Martin was confirmed in September. The German will step into the role currently vacated by Sergio Perez who is yet to land a new drive on the 2021 grid.
Vettel then revealed that team owner of the Aston Martin team, Lawrence Stroll, pushed to have him join the project with the team expecting to challenge for victories by 2021.
“(There were) a lot of factors,” he said. “Those boxes were quite easy to tick in terms of the performance – the racing side of things, where the team is, where the might team might be, the potential and so on.
“But more so I think it was the mindset and the will to really do something and bring something good together.
“It sounds like a fun project and ultimately something I want to be part of.
“It is very different to Ferrari, obviously Racing Point as it stands today and in the future, Aston Martin will be growing, there will be a lot of things happening for the first time, and I think it’s an incredible, challenging journey for the whole team.
“I hope I can contribute a lot of things and do good in the car, and outside the car.
“I love racing and I’m looking forward to go racing.”
Vettel will have just seven races left in scarlet before leaving Ferrari. The first of which is this weekend for F1’s return to the Nürburgring with the Eifel Grand Prix.