‘He won’t win any more’: Sebastian Vettel ‘should retire’, says former F1 team boss

Vettel has had a difficult start to the 2022 season after contracting coronavirus and then struggling in Melbourne

Dylan Terry
Thursday 14 April 2022 13:51 BST
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Vettel struggled in his first race of the 2022 season
Vettel struggled in his first race of the 2022 season (AFP via Getty Images)

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Former F1 team boss Giancarlo Minardi has urged Sebastian Vettel to retire from the sport because he ‘won’t win any more races’.

The four-time world champion missed the first two races of the 2022 season after testing positive for coronavirus.

He then returned at the Australian Grand Prix but only qualified in 18th place, before then retiring from the race on the Sunday.

And Minardi, who was in charge of his self-named team from 1985 until 2006 when it was bought by Red Bull and renamed Toro Rosso, feels Vettel should call it a day.

Speaking to Corriere della Sera, he said: “He was unlucky to have missed two GPs with Covid, in the third one he went out.

“But he should retire. He has a lot of money, he’s won a lot of titles and he won’t win any more [races].”

Minardi is now the president of the Imola circuit which will play host to the next race of the season - the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Vettel’s Aston Martin are the only team yet to score points in 2022. And the German has not picked up a Grand Prix victory since he claimed a win with Ferrari in Singapore in 2019.

In total, he has won 53 races in his F1 career - the third most behind only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

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