Sebastian Vettel leaves Ferrari at the end of the season, five years after his arrival. The 32-year-old German driver had in fact arrived in 2015 with enormous expectations, given that he had just won four consecutive world titles, with the Red Bull Racing team, from 2010 to 2013. With the Cavallino, on the other hand, Vettel did not leave his mark and he will hardly do so in this season, which has not yet started and due to the virus it may not be fully completed, and where in any case he is largely disadvantaged compared to the reigning Mercedes champion, Lewis Hamilton, and also to the young teammate Charles Leclerc, rising star of Formula 1. "I wish the best for the Cavallino, now I'm taking time to decide my future," said Vettel after five full seasons with the Reds, and a sixth that will only start in the summer and with a thousand unknown factors.
The decision was communicated in a note issued in the morning by Maranello, which states that the parties have mutually agreed not to extend Sebastian Vettel's contract. “In this sport – added the German – to be able to get the most you need to be in perfect harmony and the team and I have realized that there is no longer a common will to continue together beyond the end of this championship. No economic aspects come into play in this common decision: it's not my way of reasoning when certain choices are made and it never will be. What has happened in recent months has led many of us to reflect on what life's priorities really are: there is a need for imagination and to have a new approach to a situation that has changed”.
“I want to thank the whole Ferrari family and, above all, its fans all over the world for the support they have given me over the years. My immediate goal will be to close this long history with Ferrari in the best possible way, trying to share some good moments together again, like the many we have already experienced in the past. His long history with Ferrari has been intense but below expectations: he had to settle for two second places in the 2017 and 2019 world championships, after third place in 2015 and fourth in 2016. Last year, he even finished fifth in the general standings, behind the 22-year-old Leclerc. In recent years the Prancing Horse, with Vettel as the first driver, has never even managed to win the constructors' title. However, with his 4 titles Vettel is the fourth most successful driver in history, on a par with Alain Prost and behind only Schumacher, Hamilton and Fangio.
The news was also welcomed on the financial markets, given that Ferrari is listed on the Stock Exchange, and it has not dampened the positivity of investors, given that even today the share of the Prancing Horse, which has gained more than 5% in the last month, advances further to approach 150 euros. The good momentum is mainly due to the resumption of production after the forced stop for the coronavirus, and to the good quarterly accounts recently presented: in the first three months of 2020 Ferrari recorded stable net revenues close to one billion, with deliveries on the rise. The end of April assembly also has dividend distribution confirmed from 1,13 euros per share.
