Sebastian Vettel may have lost his “mojo” but will take “fond memories” from Ferrari after his departure.
It was back in May when the Scuderia announced the German would not be getting a new contract and therefore leave following six years in red.
But while the failed championship bids of 2017 and 2018 plus the arrival of Charles Leclerc last year may well be Vettel’s legacy at Ferrari, his predecessor Fernando Alonso explained why he will still look back and be happy to have raced at the Italian team.
“When you sign with Ferrari, you assume you can win the World Championship,” the Spaniard, who returns to Formula 1 with the rebranded Alpine team next year, told Sport Bild.
“After four titles, Vettel will probably have thought he could get another with Ferrari, but sometimes you don’t get lucky when the moment is right and opportunities slip by.
“That’s why in my career I tried not to concentrate only on Formula 1 and, for example, drove the 24 Hours of Le Mans and tried to win everything that can be won.
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“We all go to Ferrari with a lot of anticipation, it’s the most legendary team in Formula 1. It’s special to drive for Ferrari, even if I didn’t win the title, it was a very positive experience for me.
“I think Sebastian will have fond memories of Ferrari too, even if he didn’t become World Champion with them. I think we both lacked the right car and the technical capabilities at the right moment.”
Currently, though Vettel is leaving the team with a whimper as he lacks pace against Leclerc and has scored just 17 points in the first 10 races of the season.
But having announced his move to Aston Martin back at Mugello, the technical director at the team known now as Racing Point believes the environment is exactly what the 33-year-old needs.
“We can help Seb. I think he’s not in a great place at the moment in his head. I think he’s lost his mojo a little bit,” Andrew Green said.
“We’re just the best team at turning drivers around and getting them back into their sweet spots. I think we can really help him.
“We are very driver-focused, we take a lot of time to understand our drivers and work with them.
“We form a really strong relationship and bond with our drivers. That helps to nurture them and to get them to feel comfortable and secure and not worry that things are going on behind their backs.
“We take care of all the politics. It allows them to drive the car as quick as possible. I think we can get Seb back into that place.”
Indeed many have compared the atmosphere at the Silverstone-based squad to Red Bull, where Vettel won his world titles, and his last teammate there, Daniel Ricciardo, does think Seb can put his identity onto the team.
“I think he is very driven, stating the obvious,” said the Aussie via GPFans. “But he has always been very interested in the team itself technically and he is always willing to put the work in.
“I don’t know, racing, it’s in all of our DNA but he really lives and breathes it. We might go to sleep at night with maybe other thoughts, and I feel like maybe most of the time he is going to sleep with racing thoughts.
“I’m sure he is going to put the work in and I think it will be probably very successful for him.
“The team looks like they’re in a good place and I think he will contribute to that quite tremendously.”