Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel Showed How to ‘Drive Large Teams Like Us’

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s six-year-long partnership ended this season and his last year with the team was not the best. Ferrari was facing a power-unit problem and there were some rumored issues between the team and the driver.

The last race in Abu Dhabi saw several drivers bidding goodbye to their teams. Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari had an emotional farewell, as the German had some nice things to say about his teammates.

Ferrari Team Principal, Mattia Binotto, has been absent because of illness. Meanwhile, Sporting Director Laurent Mekies has taken charge of the Maranello team, and he talked about Vettel’s absence from the team after six long years, going into 2021.

He said, “We certainly don’t feel like it’s a normal Sunday. We wanted to say a real thank you to Seb for what have been these six years with us.”

“What we will keep with us is that he is an outstanding professional, that in good moments and in bad moments has been part of the team, putting it together,” he further added.

ALSO READ – ‘Completely Trounced Vettel’: Ex F1 Driver Justifies Ferrari’s Choice to Back Leclerc and Sack Seb

Mekies lauds Sebastian Vettel despite tough season

This past season was Ferrari’s worst since 1980. Sebastian Vettel was the third most successful Ferrari driver, however, his chapter with Ferrari came to an unflattering end. The team fell out of the top-3 spots and ended the season at P6 on the Championship Standings.

Mekies acknowledged Ferrari’s troubles and admitted how Vettel was still pulling together for the team.

He said, “Even in these conditions, it’s been a year where he has been pulling us together, always keeping constructive and positive no matter what difficulties we were having. That’s the way you drive large teams like us, with everybody at the race track and Maranello.”

Sebastian Vettel stated that he learned a lot from working with the Maranello team. However, he is moving on to Aston Martin next season, where he can hopefully climb back up the ladder using his new team’s momentum from this season.