Sebastian Vettel has named former team boss Maurizio Arrivabene among the most important people from his six years at Ferrari.
The two immediately formed a strong partnership upon the four-time world champion’s arrival in 2015, leading to aspirations they could rekindle the days of Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt in the early 2000s.
Instead, the failed championship bids of 2017 and 2018 were as good as it got before Arrivabene was replaced by Mattia Binitto the following year, this amid rumours of internal arguments between the two.
But under the Swiss, Vettel, who also had to deal with the emergence of Charles Leclerc, rarely looked the same driver.
And with his contract running out at the end of this year, Binotto made the choice to replace the 33-year-old with Carlos Sainz for 2021.
“I think it is hard to pick one memory over all these years,” said Vettel, reflecting on his time at Ferrari in Abu Dhabi.
“What I will keep, for sure, for the rest of my life is having the time, not only with professionals but with the people behind the set of red [clothes], with a great heart and a great passion that drives them.
“The commitment they have towards the team, the guys in the garage, the guys in the office, in Maranello.
“There are many reasons you can argue why we did not succeed and finish the mission we set out to achieve.
“But what you keep ultimately are the memories and the passion that I shared with so many people along the way. I have no regrets looking back. Certainly, there have been mistakes. There have been highs and lows.”
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Asked by Sky Italia though to name the most important figures he worked with at Ferrari during his six years, however, Vettel’s focus on Arrivebene was notable.
“Riccardo [Adami, track engineer] from my workgroup, without doubt,” Seb said initially.
“I travelled with him and it was important to have him as a pillar because we already knew each other. He understood me. In terms of track performance, he was the most important person.
“In a larger picture, however, Maurizio Arrivabene. I think that from the outside he was not well understood.
“It was not easy to work with [former chairman Sergio] Marchionne,” Vettel noted. “He was very particular, he put great pressure on people and with Maurizio, he was not always kind. But I think Arrivabene really has a big heart.”