Vettel has only been on the podium with the team's green colours twice, and the second place was taken away on one of those occasions.
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Sebastian Vettel claims that physical issues will not influence his decision to continue in Formula One beyond this season. Instead, it will be about how quickly Aston Martin can give him with a car that will allow him to compete for podium finishes on a regular basis. That hasn’t happened since he joined Aston Martin for the 2021 season. Vettel has only been on the podium with the team’s green colours twice, and the second place was taken away on one of those occasions, in Hungary, due to a fuelling infringement.
So far this year, there has been no improvement, but there were some green shoots of recovery when Aston Martin managed to get both cars into the points at Imola last time out, with Vettel finishing ninth, two places ahead of teammate Lance Stroll. With Vettel at 34 and in his 16th season, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack recently stated that “it’s up to us to supply the tool that is needed for him to perform” and that he “100% understands” the driver’s desire to keep an open mind on his future.
Meanwhile, the four-time former World Champion claims that his head will decide whether or not to continue, rather than his body. “Time will tell,” said Vettel when asked about racing in 2023. “At the minute, I think the focus is on now and on the mountain ahead of us that we try to climb – and we won’t climb it in a day, we won’t climb it in a month.”
“But we will choose the path we climb which will determine the next three to four years, so that’s why I feel it’s really important to focus on that and it takes all the attention. Those will be the key things I will be looking at to see how promising it is looking in the future and how soon, because obviously I’m not really old – I think I would have physically a lot of years left, it’s not a problem at all. That’s ultimately the goal – to win and fight for podiums and victories, which currently we are far away [from]. But there is plenty of work, so that’s also very exciting – to know where we are now and to take the little steps and define the path for the future.”
