Sebastian Vettel says he is “at peace” at how his difficult 2020 season panned out and denied suggestions that he has a point to prove in Formula 1 with Aston Martin.
Ferrari opted not to renew Vettel’s contract prior to the start of a 2020 campaign in which he struggled for overall performance.
Vettel finished only 13th in the standings, scoring 33 points, 15 of which came courtesy of his sole podium finish in Turkey.
Vettel ultimately secured a seat at the rebranded Aston Martin team, which unveiled its new-look AMR21 on Wednesday.
“I’ve obviously thought about it a lot last year, during the season, and I’m obviously not happy with how last year went in terms of performance, partly my performance,” he said.
“I don’t have any regrets, obviously there are things that didn’t go well and things I would have liked to go better, and differently and so on, but ultimately I’m very much looking forward to this year.
“I’m very much at peace with last year. I know that it hasn’t been to my standards that I mostly hold myself, I’ve never really cared what people say or think or – sorry – write, but that’s why I think it’s important I’m at peace with that myself, and very much looking forward to this year, and having very, very high expectations myself.”
Pushed on whether he needed to prove a point to his critics Vettel retorted: “[I’m] not interested in what people think.
“I think it’s more about making a point to the team, to myself rather than the people… our world is moving very fast and the world has to move on fast or quickly which is healthy and good.
“I am pretty sure when I say goodbye to Formula 1 I will be forgotten very quickly and that’s OK, I think that’s healthy.
“That’s why also I am not too bothered about proving a point to people and really just focusing on my own bit, which right in front of me, is myself.
“Hopefully it doesn’t sound too egotistic or arrogant but it’s myself and the team around me [that matter].
“If anything, in the wider bigger sense, it is the people who support me [and] have given me so much in the past 10 years, and have stood beside me no matter the last result.
“I think F1 is moving very fast. Not just literally in terms of speed but also moving on fast, therefore you always [get] judged on the last couple of results.
“You can come from nothing and be a hero by having a couple of good results or in my case, more than 50 wins on your side and people think that you’re just average. It’s how it goes.”
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