© Vladimir RysThanks For The Memories, Seb! This weekend F1 says goodbye to Sebastian Vettel.
SebastianVettel,ourfirstWorldChampion,retiresfromFormulaOnethisweekend,andwe’resadtoseehimgo.Hedroveourcarduringagoldenageforusandlefttheteamwithmagnificentmemories.EveryoneisgoingtobetalkingaboutSebthisweek–buthere’safewthoughtsfromthepeopleattheTeamwhoknewhimbest…
After 299 races, 53 wins, 57 poles and four drivers’ titles, Seb is driving off into the sunset and retiring. It’s fitting that his final grand prix it at Yas Marina: the track at which he became F1’s youngest-ever World Champion.
Despite his years with Ferrari and Aston Martin, Seb will always be part of the family. He was instrumental in putting Red Bull Racing on the map, taking our first pole position and our first victory, then clinching our first Constructors’ Championship with victory in Brazil, and then, seven days later, the Drivers’ Championship on a dramatic evening at Yas Marina. Over the next few seasons he dominated, turning one double championship into four-in-a-row. An easier year in 2011; a nail-biting finale in 2012, then a magnificently dominant 2013, in which he won the final nine races of the season to set a new world record.
And then… gone. He followed in the footsteps of Michael Schumacher, heading to Italy and joining very select band of drivers to win F1 races with three different teams – but he’d usually be poking his head around the partition, or wandering over to the pitwall to have a chat with his old crew. Many of those people are still with us today, propelling the next generation of drivers to reach those heights – though they still retain a soft spot for Sebastian… Here’s some of their stories.
Champion Of F1, Champion Of Our Hearts© Vladimir Rys
When people consider what goes into making a champion, they usually focus on the talent, the application and the car. Rarely do they consider the human element – but the relationship between a driver and the inner circle around him is a vital, if unsung, component in any winning team.
While the associations are many and varied, chief among them is the relationship between a driver and his race engineer. From day one at the Team, Sebastian had the hugely experienced Guillaume Rocquelin (Rocky, to one and all) in his ear. Today, Rocky looks after our next generation of talent, but back then he represented continuity, picking up with Sebastian where he left off with David Coulthard when the Scotsman retired, vacating the seat that Sebastian slipped into.
A Shining Star In The Sport© Vladimir Rys
“David had 14 years in F1, he knew it inside-out, knew how it functioned,” recalls Rocky. “He was very specific on what he wanted, both in and out of the car, so the job of engineering for David was making sure he got what he wanted. With Sebastian it was much more open-ended: at first, he wasn’t sure what would suit his style, didn’t really know what would be best in terms of set-up, driver interface, things like that.
“But this was only half the challenge. Remember he was very young when he joined us, there were lots of things in F1 that were still new to him, even tasks like interaction with the media or with the FIA. With David those were never an issue but with Sebastian I had to take more a role beyond the nuts-and-bolts of running the car.”
Across the years, as Seb accumulated the victories and the titles – and also went from his early to late 20s – his public persona developed, though very little changed within the garage. “I think with the outside world he changed a lot – and there were things he could and couldn’t do any more, which was a big change for him, but it meant that getting back to basics and doing what he really loved doing, which was working on the car and working with us, became an escape. If anything, he become more motivated.”
Then as now, Red Bull Racing’s team manager/sporting director was Jonathan Wheatley. Although it’s been eight seasons since Seb departed, in Jonathan’s view, a lot of the processes and mentality that make Red Bull Racing a winning team today, come from the years in which Seb was at the heart of the operation. “Whatever our ethos is now, and how that has developed, Seb was part of creating that process. What makes this team unique is the people that work or have worked in it. Not just the drivers – but someone who was our talisman for such a long time really made a difference.”
Jonathan’s career, from apprentice mechanic up to sporting director has featured a great many high points, including observing up close some of the best there have ever been. Having worked with Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Seb and Max, he’s adept at deflecting questions on the subject of GOAT, but will concede there are certain shared traits between the multiple World Champions.
“Each one of those drivers has the ability to pull a lap out of nowhere. All of them can consistently deliver in a car, even a car that’s underperforming, and somehow get a result that contributes towards a Championship. They all do that in a different way, they’re all very different people and all have different motivations – but they all do it.”
One of the races that stands out for Jonathan is the frenzied title decider at Interlagos in 2012. The Team had secured a tough Constructors’ Championship in Austin, leaving the way clear for a dramatic head-to-head in Brazil for the drivers’ title, with Seb leading Alonso by just a few points at the final round. When Seb has hit and spun around on the first lap, he had to stage one of the sports’ all-time comebacks, fighting through the field with a huge hole in the side of the car, and rain falling on the treacherous Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
“I think drivers rise to the occasion – and what you see in guys with that level of talent is their ability to deliver on a day where everything seems to be against them,” says Jonathan. “You need to have that inner calm; to reset yourself and focus on the job. Seb could do that. You can see it in the way he handled the incident, having the presence of mind to let the car roll back down the hill to get out of everyone’s way. And from there, carrying on in a car that wasn’t producing anything like the downforce it should have produced, one of his finest drives.”
"We Have To Remember These Days"© Vladimir Rys
OleSchack–frontendmechanic
Watch a highlights reel of that day and you’ll see Seb celebrating with front-end mechanic Ole Schack (who’s easy to spot in some interesting headgear). Ole has been a fixture in our team since before the car was blue. He was the front-end mechanic on Seb’s car, as he was for DC before that, and is for Max Verstappen now. Success, agrees Ole, didn’t change Seb.
“Not at all. He was the same guy. With Sebastian, what you see is what you get. I think that comes from strength of character. All those wins made no difference to the guy that walked into the garage. He didn’t change anything at all.”
How would Ole describe that character? “In the garage, Seb was… relaxed. The atmosphere is different in the garage to outside. If the driver can come in and see the car is sitting on the deck, ready to go, it makes them relax. Seb likes a chat, he’d want to have a laugh and a giggle with the boys – because the drivers don’t really spend that much time in the garage. When he climbed into the car though, he’d often want to sit quietly and think, particularly if it was a tense weekend.”
A quirk of the pitlane (actually of the Constructors’ Championship order) meant that when Seb rocked up in red at the beginning of 2015, he had the right-hand garage at Ferrari, next to his old left-hand garage at Red Bull. He certainly wasn’t a stranger. “No, he’d always stop for a chat – occasionally a question,” recalls Ole. I remember his first or second race with Ferrari, he hobbled around the corner, asking how we’d been rigging his belts for the previous six years because the Ferrari ones were causing him a lot of pain in… let’s say a sensitive area! We were happy to help: we weren’t giving away any performance secrets by saying we used to soak them in water!”
And that’s Sebastian Vettel, a four times Formula One World Champion, focussed on track, relaxed in the car, popular in the garage and fond of a softer seatbelt. Happy retirement Seb!
