We’ve known since October that Sebastian Vettel would leave Red Bull Racing, with which he had conquered the past four drivers’ championships, for pastures new and green and, well, Italian.
The German driver’s move to Scuderia Ferrari, however, became official only today, just ahead of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. The Italian team confirmed that Vettel has signed a three-year contract, starting next season.
“Scuderia Ferrari has decided to put its faith in the youngest multiple champion in the history of Formula 1”, said team principal Marco Mattiacci. “With Sebastian, we all share a thirst for victory as well as enthusiasm, a strong work ethic and tenacity; key elements for all the Scuderia members to write together a new winning chapter in the history of Ferrari.”
Vettel, on his part, admitted that joining the Italian team “means a dream of lifetime has come true”. That’s because he is following on the steps of another German driver who dominated F1 with the Scuderia but, unfortunately, is still trying to recover from a skiing accident.
“When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it’s an incredible honor to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari”, said Vettel.
As the same time, Fernando Alonso announced his departure from the team after a fruitless five years. The Spaniard, who until today had declined to comment on his future with Ferrari, said that he had been having his doubts since 2013 but waited to see what his chances with be with the new, turbocharged V6 engines that became mandatory this year.
“I have a very close relationship with (former) president Luca di Montezemolo. When I arrived in the summer break I thought that maybe it was time to sit down with him and say, if it was OK with them, I would like to go”, said Alonso.
He also appreciated the fact that, despite having two years to run on his contract, the decision to go their separate ways was mutual.
“I need to thank Ferrari so much because they could have said no but they understood it was the best for the two parties and this is a true sign of respect and love for this team, and they showed me respect on that”, he quipped, adding that “I stop as a Ferrari driver but from Monday I am a Ferrari supporter”.
Still, Fernando remained mum about his next employer. If he stays in F1 this season, almost everyone thinks he’ll go for those extremely professional chaps at Woking. In case he takes a sabbatical, which is another rumor that’s been going around, it might be a newcomer based in Ingolstadt…
It would surprise no one to hear that the Kimi Raikkonen’s reaction to his new team mate was that he has “a normal relationship” with him and hopes they can “get things done in a good way”.