Not that long ago, much of the British media was predicting a "dream move" from Mercedes to Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton.

As the Italian marque seeks to hold on to sixth in the standings, Sebastian Vettel, who next year joins Aston Martin, admits that his "dream move" to Ferrari simply didn't work out.

"I don't think I will go on having any regrets looking back," he tells the official F1 website's Beyond the Grid podcast. "It is true that I have failed because I set myself the mission of the target to win the world championship with Ferrari, I failed, I didn't manage to do that.

"There are things that I should have done better," he admits, "things that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that maybe I shouldn't have picked. But then again, I think everything that happened brought me to where I am now, you see what I mean?

"I'm generally not talking about stuff that happens on the track now, losing the car in Hockenheim in sort of half-wet, half-dry conditions," he continues. "Many people point that one out as a low point, but I'm not talking about things like that.

"I think that looking back they weren't worth fighting. You see what I mean?

"But again part of it was probably in my nature and it was natural to do so, and I think I had a point as well in some of these little fights and battles, whatever, but yeah I think ultimately that's how you mature and how you learn."

Looking ahead to the next phase in his career, he says of the move to Aston Martin: "(There were) a lot of factors. Those boxes were quite easy to tick in terms of the performance - the racing side of things, where the team is, where the might team might be, the potential and so on.

"But more so I think it was the mind-set and the will to really do something and bring something good together. It sounds like a fun project and ultimately something I want to be part of.

"It is very different to Ferrari, obviously Racing Point as it stands today and in the future Aston Martin will be growing, there will be a lot of things happening for the first time and I think it's an incredible challenging journey for the whole team, and me joining... I hope I can contribute a lot of things and do good in the car, and outside the car.

"I love racing and I'm looking forward to go racing," he continues. "I don't regret the last years and I learned a lot in my time with Ferrari - a different team, a different culture - but yes, certainly Ferrari is a special team in many ways and I guess where I'm going will be different. I'm looking forward to it.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by flyinglap, 07/10/2020 19:36

"Enzo Ferrari in his book, "Piloti, che gente!" ("race drivers, what kind of people!") describes his theory about "la parabola del campione" ("the champion's parabola") whereby a championship-winning driver after having finally reached the peak will only follow a descending trajectory due to having acquired fame, wealth and crucially, due to having created a family. The loss of speed may be imperceptible but the process is inevitable and irreversible in most cases. This was more evident when motor racing, and Formula 1 in particular, was extremely dangerous (with several champions choosing to retire after only an extra "monetizing" season or two) but in more recent times it is easier for former champions and average drivers alike to continue racing. Regarding the comment about "Ferrari having failed to give Vettel a championship car", they did give him more than one "winning car", but on his part he ought to make the difference and win the championship. On the other hand, Mercedes gave Hamilton, Rosberg and Bottas "championship cars" by definition, meaning that anybody among the 20 drivers on the grid during any given season could have won the championship with a Mercedes. Indeed, Hamilton has "simply" been the most successful of the Mercedes drivers, followed by Rosberg (the perfect demonstration of the "champion's parabola"; at least he was honest about it and he did not even stay for an extra "monetizing" season), with Bottas occupying the last place (for the time being, and with the benefit of the doubt)."

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2. Posted by Great_white_shark, 07/10/2020 19:08

"@Tardis40 did you not watch F1 in 2017-2018? They had a car that could beat Mercedes "

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3. Posted by BillH, 07/10/2020 18:10

"Like a lot of drivers before Vettel, Ferrari should have worked out but for some reason doesn't.
Perhaps he was the right driver at the right team at the wrong time?
Ferrari seem to like this "number one" driver approach, which is fine if the "number two" driver plays the game and the car suits the number one driver.
Vettel had a number of years with a compliant team mate while at Ferrari but even with everything in his favour there is the one major variable that (these days) can't be influenced: the other competitors.
Basically, Merc have dominated and even when Ferrari breached PU regulations they still could not beat them.
Timing is everything when it comes to a driver being at a team.
Probably, for me, Chris Amon is a great example of this as a Ferrari driver."

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4. Posted by Tardis40, 07/10/2020 17:23

"Ferrari failed to give you a championship car."

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5. Posted by Wokingchap, 07/10/2020 16:29

"I don't hold much hope for him at AM being as a youngster constantly beat him in the same red car this last 2 seasons.
"

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"I failed with Ferrari," admits Vettel

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