 |
| Motor racing - Formula One F1 - Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary - July 28, 2022 Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel signs autographs for fans ahead of the Grand Prix (File photo by=REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Sebastian Vettel's greatest success is a distant memory but the four times world champion will leave Formula One at the end of this year with more fans than he had in his heyday, Reuters Sports reported. Vettel won his last title with Red Bull almost a decade ago while it has been nearly three years since the 35-year-old German, then at Ferrari, last won a race.
News on Thursday of his departure at the end of the season nonetheless triggered an outpouring of appreciation, with the Aston Martin driver hailed as a 'legend', 'inspiration', 'ambassador', 'one of the all-time greats, and 'class act'. "Everyone in the paddock loves him," Spaniard Carlos Sainz, a simulator driver at Red Bull when Vettel was chalking up back-to-back championship success with that team, told reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday. "You will not hear somaeone speaking bad about Seb.
"I think this just speaks about his personality, his life as a human being not only as a driver," added the 27-year-old, who replaced the German at Ferrari last year. Old rival and seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton said Vettel was "leaving this sport better than you found it which is always the goal."
