Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel says he will need to fully throw himself into the Aston Martin Racing programme ahead of his testing debut with the team next season.
Vettel will leave Scuderia Ferrari at the end of 2020 to be replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr., with the German making the switch to Aston Martin Racing. Aston Martin will be the new name of the BWT Racing Point Formula One Team, and Vettel will partner Canadian Lance Stroll in 2021.
The thirty-three-year-old knows it will be a big challenge to race for Aston Martin, and after a lacklustre 2020 where he sits down in fourteenth in the Drivers’ Championship, he knows he has to focus on getting the best out of both himself and his new team next season and that needs him to be fully committed right from day one.
“Obviously, ’21 should be similar in terms of the cars to this year,” Vettel said to MotorsportWeek.com. “But I think it will be a big challenge for me to get on top of everything so come January, February I am going to throw myself into the project and to make sure I have understood all of the things that are there to be understood before the driving, the testing and the racing starts.
“I don’t think there’s one particular thing or one particular person, to be honest. I think it will be getting to know the whole team, the rhythm, their working, trying to establish the differences and trying to contribute to make things better.”
Talking of his departure from Ferrari, Vettel says he will miss the people within the team, and although he will see them around the paddock, it won’t be the same again as he races for one of their competitors.
“In the end, it’s like a relationship,” he said. “I will miss the people. Obviously, the spirit, the idea, Ferrari the legend. I’ve obviously been a fan since I was a small child being inspired by Michael [Schumacher].
“But I think when you are part of it and you get to know the people, you get to see behind the scenes, I think it’s going to be the people [that I miss]. The good news is that I will still see some of them regularly next year even if it’s in a different way but still, the people will remain.”
