Red Bull Starboy, F1 Antagonist, Ferrari’s Fallen Angel and the People’s Champion – Sebastian Vettel Shunned Them All Years Before Closing the Door on His Career

Sebastian Vettel has witnessed a variety of phases with his F1 fandom. Coming into the sport, as Red Bull‘s prodigy, he soon arguably became the antagonist of the paddock. Dominating championships, Vettel was the supreme being who slowly changed his reputation to an Angel at Ferrari. Despite failing at emulating his idol with a championship at the Scuderia, Sebastian has become a legend of the sport. Yet, he denied this fame once, to attain happiness in a turbulent period of his career.

Back in 2020, Vettel was on the verge of bidding goodbye to F1 in an unceremonious manner. Ferrari had cut ties with him to take a step forward to their younger future. Meanwhile, the German driver was desperately looking to save his F1 career.

While he signed up with Aston Martin for two seasons, Seb was more or less done with the sport. In an F1 Beyond the Grid podcast in 2020, Vettel expressed his thoughts about the fame he got via F1. He said, “I am quite happy if people don’t recognize who I am or more, what I do. Because who I am is not what I am.”

“When people know what you do for a living, it’s always like, they put you in a box. And I am getting put in that box. I don’t enjoy being put in a box.”

Vettel was quite clear that he expected happiness after a tumultuous few years with Ferrari. The 4-time champion was happy to not get the different tags such as People’s Champion or Ferrari’s Fallen Angel.

Read More: “It Was A Failure”: Sebastian Vettel’s Era In Red Broken Down To One Conclusion

At the moment of his retirement from F1 in 2022, he may have mixed feelings about his Ferrari tenure. Vettel always wished to take that 5th world title in the Scarlet Red car like his idol Michael Schumacher did. Still, Seb is not the first great driver to fail at taking glory at Ferrari.

The Great Drivers who failed at winning with Ferrari like Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari is the iconic dream team for many F1 drivers. Everyone covets to just become a Scuderia driver, let aside become a World champion with them. Although it also comes with a lot of pressure. So, which notable drivers have fallen prey to this pressure at Maranello?

The recent name besides Sebastian Vettel that comes to mind, is Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard was at the top of his game when he joined Ferrari in 2010. The Italian outfit had to buy out their last world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s exit to make way for Fernando.

Although his only two shots at the title just fell short against Vettel himself driving for Red Bull. Alonso may not have liked it how his 5 seasons at Maranello could not yield a championship. Many say Alonso could have easily been a 4-time champion if he scored some more points in 2010 and 2012 for Ferrari.

Another notable great of F1 who faltered at Maranello was Alain Prost. The Frenchman had been the star driver of the field in the 80s alongside Ayrton Senna. While his rivalry with Senna forced him to part ways with McLaren, his 2 years at Ferrari weren’t great either.

Prost, managed to challenge Senna for the 1990 title, though fell short after their infamous crash at the finale in Japan. An underwhelming 1991 car frustrated Alain and he took a year’s sabbatical from F1. While Prost has been incredibly successful as a 4-time champion, he could not take that elusive title at the Scuderia.

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Looking back at the F1 history, Vettel may have mixed feelings about not winning a championship with Ferrari. Yet, he has retired graciously after a momentous career in 2022. With little chance of a return, Vettel has tied off a great career of ups and downs. Let us know your thoughts on Sebastian Vettel’s career.