4-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel to retire at end of season
Vettel wants to focus on his family
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sebastian Vettel is hanging up his helmet at the end of the 2022 Formula One season.
The four-time champion and father of three said he wants to focus on his family.
"I love this sport. It has been central to my life since I can remember. But as much as there is life on track, there's my life off track too. Being a racing driver has never been my sole identity," the 35-year-old German said in a video announcement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vettel won four straight championships with Red Bull from 2010-2013.
Sebastian Vettel won the F1 championship four times. (Dan Istitene - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
He currently races for a struggling Aston Martin team and sits 14th out of 20 drivers in the points standings, with a season-best finish of sixth.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Next to racing I have grown a family and I love being around them. I have grown other interests outside Formula One."
Vettel currently drives for Aston Martin. (Christian Baudat ATPImages/Getty Images)
"Committing to my passion the way I did and the way I think it is right does no longer go side by side with my wish to be great father and husband."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vettel has increasingly become involved in climate change activism and recently said it makes him question his job as a racing driver, a topic he referenced in his announcement.
Vettel's last championship came in 2013 with Red Bull. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
"My passion comes with certain aspects that I have learned to dislike. They might be solved in the future, but the will to apply that change has to grow much, much stronger and has to be leading to action today.
Along with his championships, Vettel is third in all-time Formula One victories with 53, behind seven-time champions Michael Schumacher at 91 and Lewis Hamilton at 103.
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His most recent win came at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix when he was driving for Ferrari.