Four-time Formula 1 champion and current Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel is not sure if he will return to the sport in the 2021 season.
Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has been competing in Formula 1 since the 2007 season when he drove a partial schedule for BMW Sauber and Scuderia Toro Rosso, and he has been doing so as a full-time driver since the 2008 season, which was his lone full season driving for Toro Rosso.
Vettel is currently in his fifth season driving for Ferrari after joining the Italian team ahead of the 2015 season and signing a three-year contract extension in the summer of 2017 to continue driving for them through the 2020 season.
But beyond the 2020 season, the 31-year-old German is not sure of his plans and has not ruled out the potential of retiring from the sport if the new regulations, which are set to be implemented ahead of the 2021 season, are not appealing to him.
Here is what Vettel had to say about the matter, according to RaceFans.
"“A lot of the values that used to be around, they are only partly around. Formula One is now more a show and a business than a sport. You can say the same probably for other sports, but maybe in other sports it doesn’t filter down as much to the actual athlete as much as it does here.“If we say we are a show, then bring on the show. I feel we are wasting so much time and energy with regulations that are just expensive really for nothing. I’m certain I really want to drive this year and next year, then I don’t know what happens to the regulations. Nobody knows so far.”"
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Vettel went on to state that he does not want to drive in Formula 1 “just for the sake of being in Formula 1”, according to RaceFans. On top of that, there are already rumors that even if he does end up returning to Formula 1 in the 2021 season, he may not be returning for a seventh season driving for the Prancing Horse, as Ferrari may look to replace him.
Over the course of his Formula 1 career, Vettel has competed in 221 races and earned 52 victories, a total that ranks third on the all-time Formula 1 wins list. He has also earned 111 podium finishes, a total that ranks third on the all-time Formula 1 podium finishes list, and taken 55 pole positions, a total that ranks fourth on the all-time Formula 1 pole positions list.
After driving for Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, in the 2008 season, Vettel was promoted to Red Bull Racing for the 2009 season. He went on to win four consecutive championships driving for the Milton Keynes-based team from the 2010 season through the 2013 season. He left the team following the 2014 season to join Ferrari.
Will Sebastian Vettel return to Formula 1 in the 2021 season, and if so, will the 2021 season be his seventh season driving for Ferrari, or will he spend this season driving for another team?