Ferrari’s time with Sebastian Vettel and vice versa, will come to a close when the checkered flag turns out in the upcoming Abu Dhabi GP. Regardless of how one looks at it, Vettel will have a few moments to reflect on and cherish for a lifetime.

But there were also difficult moments that he had to go through, majorly in the year 2018. Many largely believe that was also the year Vettel’s career at Ferrari endured a huge turning point.

Speaking in an interview, Vettel stated, “I think in the ’18 season, obviously we had the passing of Mr Marchionne [former chairman and CEO of Ferrari Sergio Marchionne], and I think the change in leadership from Maurizio [Arrivabene] to Mattia [Binotto], so maybe the ’18 year was a decisive year for many things.”

Sebastian Vettel believes there were a lot of things that they ‘could have done better’

Vettel was challenging Lewis Hamilton for the Drivers’ title that year and matched him toe-to-toe. But the race at Hockenheim took the sting out of the title fight. From there on, the German was unable to stop Hamilton from winning the championship.

The Ferrari No.5 continued, “But I don’t know if you can really break it down to only one thing. Obviously in 2016, we parted ways with James [Allison, Ferrari’s then Technical Director, who ended up joining Mercedes] because of personal conflicts at the time and I think, looking back, there were a lot of things that we should have and could have done better.”

“But everything that happened happened for a reason, so the main thing I think on my side is that I learned from it and I think I have grown with it,” concluded Vettel on the subject.

Vettel will soon move to the Aston Martin F1 team for the 2021 season

The transfer could serve to provide a certain sense of freshness for Vettel. There has been a general routine of stagnation and predictability at Ferrari, which he will soon get out of come the start of the 2021 season.

At Racing Point, as they are currently called, ‘Seb’ has the chance to catalyze the team’s good performances into even better results. Rest assured then, the four-time world champion will want to make the best use of this opportunity. He will show critics that he is not done just yet.