Mattia Binotto admits “not winning title with Sebastian Vettel was a failure” for Ferrari. Binotto admits not winning title with Seb was a failure for Ferrari.

The weekend in Abu Dhabi will be a milestone in Sebastian Vettel’s career, as it will be his final race, after having raced continuously in Formula 1 since mid-2007. The German has secured an impressive four consecutive world champion titles with Red Bull, adding up 53 victories and 57 pole positions, figures that place him one step below two legends such as Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, but evidently among the most successful in the sport’s history.

However, the biggest regret of the German remains that of not being able to win the Formula One world title with Scuderia Ferrari in his long experience in Maranello between 2015 and 2020.

Sebastian Vettel managed to fulfill his dream of wearing the red suit, without however going beyond second place in the standings, on two occasions, in 2017 and 2018, beaten by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. For the German, the satisfaction of having won 14 grand prix with Scuderia Ferrari remains and in history only Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda have done better than him under the colours of the Prancing Horse.

When asked about Sebastian Vettel leaving Formula 1, Mattia Binotto, current team principal of the historic Italian team, wanted to pay homage to the four-time world champion: “Every single Ferrari fan loves Sebastian”, without however denying a ‘mea culpa’: “Not winning a title with Vettel was a failure for the whole team.” Then retracing the moments of Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel’s separation, which took place at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season, with the German driver being informed about this decision during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mattia Binotto recalled: “The announcement of not renewing his contract was the most difficult task of my career”.

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Scuderia Ferrari choose Carlos Sainz to replace Sebastian Vettel, with the German who then decided to accept the challenge of Aston Martin, taking a podium finish in two seasons.