Red Bull Racing’s team principle Christian Horner revealed that four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel contemplated quitting Formula One for good last year.
The 27 year-old went through a tough season and was unable to clinch even one win; causing him to finish fifth in the World Championship standings. Vettel was visibly frustrated with several factors involving the car as well and according to Horner, he was on the verge of leaving the sport entirely.
“He didn’t enjoy the new engine, regulation changes, the feel from the new system, the power unit, the brake by wire, the lack of downforce. You could tell he wasn’t happy,” he told The Guardian.
“He was preoccupied and to compound that his team-mate [Daniel Ricciardo] won three races. There was that feeling ‘am I enjoying this as much as I thought I was?’
“There was a stage last year when he thought whether he wanted to stop or not, whether he was getting the same level of enjoyment or not and whether or not he wanted to continue.”
However, the German driver decided against doing so, before opting to leave Red Bull and join Ferrari, claiming that he was motivated to follow in the footsteps of fellow German racer, Michael Schumacher.
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