Sebastian Vettel expects an emotional day on Sunday at Yas Marina Circuit, which will be his last outing for Red Bull – the team that has taken the German to four consecutive world championship titles.
Abu Dhabi has always been a special place for Vettel, who not only captured the inaugural edition of the twilight race, but it’s also where he won his first drivers’ championship in 2010, becoming the youngest world champion in Formula One history.
Vettel has been the most successful driver at Yas Marina Circuit, winning three of the five F1 grand prix held there, including last year’s race. But with the 27-year-old announcing last month he will be leaving Red Bull at the end of this season, Vettel knows his final showing for the Austrian marque will be a special occasion.
“I think it’s difficult to describe. I think Sunday will be very emotional,” Vettel said, speaking at Dubai Autodrome yesterday, ahead of a special showrun for the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge.
“But obviously I’ll try to first of all do my job, do the best race I can. After such a long time with the team, after everything we’ve achieved together, it’s definitely a big step for me. I’m looking forward to my future but surely looking back, it has been a very good relationship and there’s a lot of people that I will miss,” the German added, as he patted his Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo on the back.
Next season, Vettel will be headed to Ferrari, where he will replace the McLaren-bound Fernando Alonso, but the deal is yet to be officially finalised which is why the reigning world champion has been unable to talk freely about his future thus far.
Asked whether his imminent move to Ferrari has come at a right time for him, he said: “I think officially I’m not allowed yet to ann-ounce where I’m going but I don’t think it’s a big mystery at this stage to be honest. I hope I can make an announcement very soon so I can answer these kind of questions.”
It’s no secret Vettel has had a difficult year with Red Bull, where he has struggled to get the most out of the car under the new regulations.
After four seasons of incredible dominance, Vettel has been unable to win a grand prix all season and has made just four appearances on the podium. Even more surprising have been Ricciardo’s results, with the Australian faring much better than Vettel. In his first year with Red Bull, Ricciardo has been the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race this season, topping the podium three times – in Canada, Hungary and Belgium.
The 25-year-old has been outperforming Vettel, who is trying to hold on to fourth in the drivers’ championship, where he is 55 points behind third-placed Ricciardo.
“Obviously it’s not the way I was looking forward to at the beginning of the season,” admits Vettel.
“We had a lot of promise with the car but overall it has been a tough season. Trying to find the rhythm – I think Daniel got along quite a bit sooner than I did with the car.”
With Mercedes producing the fastest car this year under the new regulations, Vettel believes the only way is up for the other teams trying to catch them. But he still feels it will take some time before anyone can really compete with the German manufacturer.
Asked about his outlook for 2015, he said: “I think for everyone, but Mercedes, has a lot of work to do, trying to close the gap.
“I think it would be a surprise if any team can actually close the gap because it’s so big at this stage but hopefully we’ll see that people are a lot more closer and hopefully I can be a lot closer to the frontrunners.”
