Four-time F1 champion is coming off of one of his worst F1 weekends in his career.
Former F1 team founder Giancarlo Minardi thinks quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel should call it a career.
It’s a stinging comment after one of Vettel’s worst performances ever in Formula 1 last weekend in Melbourne. Vettel’s weekend in Melbourne following two missed races due to a positive COVID test was rather forgettable. It included an engine issue that cut short practice, a crash in the third practice, and a qualifying effort that left him to start the race in 17th.
Vettel went on to finish 19th after a spin out and crash had him out of the race on Lap 23.
“He was unlucky to have missed two Grands Prix because of COVID,” said the 74-year-old Minardi, who is now the president of the Imola circuit in Italy. “But he should retire. He has a lot of money, he has won titles and he will never win again.”
Minardi told the Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Sebastian Vettel finished a disappointing 19th in Australia.
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Minardi’s comments come amid speculation that the 34-year-old Vettel may be replaced at struggling Aston Martin by Fernando Alonso, who may need to make room at Alpine for the reigning Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri.
Alonso, 40, said in Melbourne that he sees himself in F1 for another two or three years, but he didn’t say specifically that it will be with the Renault-owned team.
“I don’t know if he meant with us or not, but I hope so,” Alpine’s new team principal Otmar Szafnauer told European-based AS newspaper. “We have him this year, and these decisions for the future will come in July or August. Until then, we’re going to learn a lot about the car and I’m sure we’ll all have more information to make a decision.”
At Aston Martin, however, new team principal Mike Krack was quick to protect Vettel after his terrible Melbourne weekend.
“Everything is fine with Seb,” Krack said. “The fact that a driver like him, a four-time world champion, has so many problems over a weekend has little to do with his driving performance. It’s not normal when a driver of his caliber is off the track so often over a weekend.”
Vettel has 53 career F1 victories, but he hasn’t won a race since 2019. He’s had two podiums in his last 43 races, dating back to 2019.
Former F1 driver Timo Glock, however, joins Minardi in thinking the German driver may take the question of his role at Aston Martin out of the team’s hands.
“It’s going to be a tough road for the whole team,” Glock told German media outlet Sky Deutschland. “I can imagine that Sebastian Vettel will lose his patience at some point because he knows very well how long it takes to get out of a hole like this.
“We’ll have to wait for the next races to see how he can motivate himself, and what he then decides for his future.”
Keyword: Former Minardi F1 Boss Says Maybe It's Time for Sebastian Vettel to Retire