SEBASTIAN VETTEL has confirmed he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season.
The four-time world champion, 35, made his debut in 2007 and has 290 race starts – including 53 wins.
Vettel is stepping away from Formula 1 after an incredibly successful career
He has claimed 53 Grand Prix wins – with only Hamilton and Schumacher eclipsing him
In recent years the German has struggled for success, particularly since arriving at Aston Martin last year.
And he has now announced he will be stepping away for good at the end of the year.
Speaking on the Aston Martin website, he said: “I have had the privilege of working with many fantastic people in Formula One over the past 15 years – there are far too many to mention and thank.
“Over the past two years I have been an Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One
Team driver – and, although our results have not been as good as we had hoped, it is very clear to me that everything is being put together that a team needs to race at the very highest level for years to come.
“I have really enjoyed working with such a great bunch of people. Everyone – Lawrence, Lance, Martin, Mike, the senior managers, the engineers, the mechanics and the rest of the team – is ambitious, capable, expert, committed and friendly, and I wish them all well.
“I hope that the work I did last year and am continuing to do this year will be helpful in the development of a team that will win in the future, and I will work as hard as I can between now and the end of the year with that goal in mind, giving as always my best in the last 10 races.
“The decision to retire has been a difficult one for me to take, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about it; at the end of the year I want to take some more time to reflect on what I will focus on next; it is very clear to me that, being a father, I want to spend more time with my family. But today is not about saying goodbye.
“Rather, it is about saying thank you – to everyone – not least to the fans, without whose passionate support Formula One could not exist.”
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McLaren paid tribute to Vettel on social media, tweeting: “Legend status. 
Congratulations on a remarkable career, Sebastian Vettel.
“A champion on and off the track.”
Vettel won four world championships in a row between 2010 and 2013 while at Red Bull.
The last of those triumphs saw him set a new record for most wins in a season as he claimed 13 victories in the 2013 campaign.
Since then, he managed a pair of second places in the drivers standings behind Lewis Hamilton in 2017 and 2018, but has continued to drift down the grid over the past four years.
Last season, Vettel finished in 12th, nine points ahead of Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll.
He has not won a race since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, he is one of only five drivers to win the F1 world championship four or more times – along with Michael Schumacher, Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alain Prost.
And only Schumacher and Hamilton have more F1 Grand Prix wins than Vettel.
