Sebastian Vettel will quit Formula 1 this year, not a surprise but indeed a loss for the sport as the four-time World Champion was a star in so many unforgettable moments that peppered his career, deserving to be recalled.
His final seasons with Aston Martin and before that Ferrari were disappointing and another season of the back of the grid anonymity was hard to stomach for the 35-year-old family man whose interest in F1 has been waning fast.
His greatest years were no doubt when Red Bull scooped him from BMW, he soon starred at Toro Rosso winning the first Grand Prix for Dietrich Mateschitz's energy drinks company when he powered Toro Rosso to victory at the memorable 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
That famous victory was followed by another 38 for Red Bull, and four successive F1 crowns from 2010 to 2013. He won 14 times for Ferrari, taking his tally to 53 F1 victories, only bettered by Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91).
Michele Lupini: His first win at Monza was special
No doubt about this one. On Saturday 13 September 2008 a still wet behind the ears Seb demonstrated what was still to come when he put his unfancied Toro Rosso running a year-old 2007 spec Ferrari engine on pole position for the Italian Grand Prix at a wet Monza.
Vettel went on to lead from lights to flag on a drying track to win the race the next day. 21-year old Sebastian not only became F1’s youngest ever winner that day, but that was also Toro Rosso’s only ever F1 win, and the Italian team wrought out of Minardi's first victory in 23 years of trying.
Mark Kay: I am going to miss Sebastian Vettel
I don’t have just one fondest memory of Sebastian Vettel, but rather two, and that is because both were derived of unbridled emotion, something that we have not witnessed much of from Vettel in quite a while.
My fondest Vettel moments are Malaysia 2013, Multi-21, and the Azerbaijan 2017 brake test and bump with Lewis Hamilton.
Both were examples of emotive behaviour, and what I feel is missing from F1 at times.
The gall of a three times champion defying an instruction to hold station behind his team mate that he was clearly was miles quicker than, was the big middle finger and ‘eff you to the institution of team orders in this sport that I truly despise.
Similarly, Vettel’s bump and run at the Baku circuit, a reaction to Hamilton’s cheeky mind game tactic to brake test him behind the safety car, not only was a message to the world that he was just as prepared to resort to dirty tactics if used on him, but also a response to the naïve narrative that Hamilton only raced fair and clean and would never resort to such dirty tactics.
I am going to miss Sebastian Vettel, a man who was undeniably the fastest in the world at his best, but one who wore his heart on his sleeve, and told it like it really was.
Jad Mallak: I am a great Sebastian fan
He has given us several great moments to savor over the course of his illustrious career, but some of them stood out more than the others and for me I have to say the moment I look back on the most - now that the German announced his retirement - is that first win with Ferrari, the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, his second race in Red.
I personally picked that moment as it just gave us hope Ferrari would rise again by the hands of a German Champion. How great could that have been?!
It was early days but hopes were high that Vettel would emulate his idol Michael Schumacher at Maranello and bring Title glory to the Scuderia. Alas, that was not meant to be as things turned out, but back then it seemed to be a marriage made in heaven.
The rest of the 2015 season yielded two more wins, as Vettel fought the might of the Mercedes rebuffing some claims that he couldn’t win in an inferior car after his utter dominance of the Championship in his Red Bull days.
Christian Horner claimed 2013 was Vettel’s pinnacle year in F1 but I feel 2015 was his best, winning and delivering podiums with his first season at a new team with a car no where near the Silver Arrows.
However, that moment he crossed the line first in Malaysia in 2015 was one of great expectations, the moment when Tifosi and Vettel fans dared to dream that another German/Italian combo would once again prevail, and that’s why I singled it out as my fondest Vettel moment.
Paul Velasco: Prior to Multi-21 the ambience at Red Bull was a happy place
Of the many Seb moments there are from that famous first win at Monza, to his time spearheading Ferrari attack on the might of Mercedes, for me Multi-21 took the cake because it defined exactly who Vettel was, behind the baby face and the annoying finger pointing, lay a true assassin with a killer extinct that he long ago lost, perhaps that day at Hockenheim in 2018.
However, prior to Multi-21 the ambience at Red Bull was a happy place, Webber and Vettel were always in good spirits - annoyingly so because you cannot be so paly-paly with guys you have to beat mercilessly every time you get into a car.
Nevertheless, it was cordial amid occasional gripes from Webbo claiming Seb was getting better parts, and even after the latter stole the F1 title in Abu Dhabi back in 2010. It was almost overkill of love between the pair until the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix when it all exploded.
The tale is well told of how Vettel ignored team orders during the race. The term Multi-21 was coined by the team to instruct the triple World Champion (at the time) not to attack Webber if the race was done and dusted.
They gave the order, Webber moaned and the rest as they say is history! Vettel won the Title, his fourth and final one and any doubt about who was boss at Red Bull was dispelled even if it was Mark's last year and a Title would have been nice. The Australian departed at the end of 2013 and in stepped fellow countryman Daniel Ricciardo for a different chapter in the Vettel legacy.
And a final word to Webber who probably knows Vettel the race driver better than most:
Webber: I think Seb's made the right call
In closing final observations from Mark Webber who was Vettel's teammate throughout those four glory years at Red Bull and knows him better as a driver, competitor and rival than most.
The Australian told F1.com: “An incredible career, untouchable in the [championship] years.
"Seb definitely loved it when Pirelli turned up and he was an absolute masterclass I think for a lot of us, in those years, through the blown diffuser days. And there was a lot of regulations that he certainly worked incredibly hard to understand and did a great job.
"And obviously he racked up a phenomenal amount of success in a short period of time, which is something that all of us colleagues have respect for."
Webber, who retired from F1 at the end of 2013, knows when it is time to make the dreaded decision to quit: “I think Seb's made the right call. Obviously, it’s totally down to the individual at that point, there’s no one else who can make that decision for you, but I don’t think it’s a surprise. I think it was pretty obvious it was coming and fair play, off he goes.”
Webber was a nine-time winner for Red Bull during the time he shared a garage with Vettel but quite patently number two when it mattered, as Helmut Marko tended to favour the German.
But bygones are bygones according to Webber: “We’re fine now. It was obviously pretty tense when you’re fighting for championships at the front together. We had a few years where I was, a couple of years where I wasn’t.
“It always gets a bit strained – it’s easier to be teammates when you’re fighting for points but obviously, championships and wins are a bit more challenging, which is obviously well-advertised in lots of different scenarios throughout the sport. We weren’t alone in that sense.
“Now, obviously he’s changed his whole position, hasn’t he? As his career’s gone on, especially in the last year or so, his whole position has changed in terms of what he’s motivated by and looking forward to in the next phase of his life, and fair play," added Webber.
Vettel will make his 291st Grand Prix start when the 2022 F1 season resumes for the Belgian Grand Prix later this month; by the end of the season (should he make the start of all the remaining races) taking his tally to 299 starts in the top flight before he departs.
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