Sebastian Vettel is a name you may have heard before, especially if you are a motorsports fan! A man who had an incredibly successful career over the years in motor racing. However, with the end of the Formula 1 2022 season, comes the end of his career.

Who is Sebastian Vettel?

Sebastian Vettel is a German race car driver, born on July 3rd, 1987 (age 35) whose passion for motorsports began at the age of 3 when he started karting. After lots of dedication and hard work, Vettel made it to Formula 1 in 2007. Vettel sports the number 5 on his car and has been his entire career. Vettel made his first appearance in the United States 2007 Grand Prix, representing his team, BMW Sauber as a test driver. However, Vettel quickly moved to a better team in 2008 when he joined Scuderia Toro Rosso as an official driver. This is when he had his first Grand Prix win in Italy. This will be one of many of his wins across the years in which Vettel’s name has been on the Formula 1 grid.

Red Bull Racing

At the start of the 2009 Formula 1 season, Vettel moved to Red Bull Racing where he remained for six entire Formula 1 seasons, between 2009-2014. This is where Vettel made his name and gained his fame with a total of 65 podiums, 38 Grand Prix wins, and 4 World Champion titles. Vettel at Red Bull Racing is now considered his ‘Prime Era’ as it is the only team that could get him the title of World Champion, let alone four times. Vettel’s Red Bull era will forever be the part of Vettel that will always be remembered and will always be a role model for every race car driver.

Scuderia Ferrari

After a very successful time at Red Bull Racing, Vettel then signed a contract in 2015 making him a driver for the well-known Formula 1 team, Scuderia Ferrari. Scuderia Ferrari is almost all aspiring drivers dream, so when Vettel signed his contract with them, it was a lifelong dream come true for him. Sebastian Vettel continued to get podiums and wins at Scuderia Ferrari. He had a total of 55 podiums and 14 Grand Prix wins across the 6 Formula 1 seasons he had with Scuderia Ferrari (2015-2020). Vettel had his last Grand Prix win during the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix, that being his 53rd race win. At the end of the 2020 F1 season, Vettel signed with Aston Martin Cognizant and was replaced at Scuderia Ferrari with Carlos Sainz Jr (Who is still currently driving with Ferrari).

Aston Martin Cognizant

After 13 years of racing, Sebastian Vettel made his final shift from one team to another in Formula 1 and moved to Aston Martin. Vettel used a lot of his time at Aston Martin to gain many important causes attention such as saving the bees, cleaning the oceans, and equal rights for women. These are just a few of the amazing causes he actively supports, which only proves him to be an exceptional human being who uses his fame to spread good. However, his time at Aston Martin was not long-lived as he only remained there for two seasons before announcing his retirement. His retirement was announced via his new Instagram account on July 28, 2022 which left his fans shocked, regardless of the fact he was clearly getting quite tired. This was evident because during the last two seasons in Formula 1 with Aston Martin, Vettel had one pole position, one podium, and no wins. Recently, on November 20th, 2022, Sebastian Vettel had his last race which was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. At the end of the race he celebrated his time in Formula 1 by doing donuts on the track with the remainder of the podium winners.

Rookie to World Champion

After a long career in Formula 1, Vettel now holds the title and ranking of 3rd in the all-time Formula 1 winners’ list. From just a rookie at BMW, to his prime at Red Bull Racing, Vettel has achieved so much, not just for himself but for Formula 1 as a whole. He will forever have a large effect on motorsports as a whole and will always be viewed as a legend amongst all F1 fans.