Hakkinen: 'Decision Vettel was not about retirement'

Sebastian Vettel seems to be heading for early retirement now that his departure is definite. In his column for Unibet, former world champion Mika Hakkinen states that at first this could not have been Vettel's wish and he therefore hopes that the German will continue.

"Negotiating means that both the team and the driver originally intended to come to an agreement. In public, Sebastian was quite open about his hopes for a new deal, so this wasn't about the decision to retire; they just couldn't agree on a deal".

Hakkinen stressed that the negotiations would always be difficult for Vettel because they took place after Charles Leclerc had already signed for five years. The same Leclerc had also run a top season with the team in his first year and kept the four-time world champion behind him.

Is the best for Vettel off?

"He hasn't thought about retiring, but he has to think about what other options there are for 2021 and 2022. And he has to think about whether he wants to remain a Formula 1 driver, even if he is not able to drive for a winning team. Personally, I would like to see him continue, because he is fast and a good ambassador for Formula 1".

Although Vettel is only 32, Hakkinen also understands that the best is perhaps off. As a teenager, Vettel already made his debut in Formula 1 and that high level is becoming increasingly difficult to hold on to over the years. Hakkinen knows all about it himself, because at the age of 33 he also suddenly quit due to a lack of motivation. "I'm tired" were his famous last words at the time.