“Thank you for Everything” – Charles to Seb
As Ferrari confirmed the news of Sebastian Vettel’s departure from Ferrari, Charles took to social media to pen his thoughts. He wrote an emotional post, emphasizing their time together as teammates.
TUMULTUOUS RELATIONSHIP
Charles and Vettel had a roller coaster relationship during their time together at Ferrari. Before Charles, Vettel was the undisputed number 1 at Ferrari and Kimi happily played along. It was to remain the same when the young Monagasque was promoted to Ferrari, after his impressive first year at Sauber.
Charles surprised everyone with his raw pace. He did not take much time to settle and was at pole position in just his second race for Ferrari at Bahrain. He almost won the race too were it not for a mechanical failure. He still finished third on the podium.
The saga continued throughout the season. Charles was way ahead of Sebastian especially in the Qualifications and had good race pace too. Vettel almost won the Canadian GP. He made a silly mistake and lost to Hamilton. His only win of the season came in Singapore where he drove super quick to undercut Charles. On the other hand Charles won two races, one in Spa and more importantly in Monza, home of Ferrari.
Master and the Apprentice
The season started with Ferrari giving a upper hand to Vettel, letting him pass by Charles in a couple of instances. However by the second half of the season it was clear that Charles was performing much better than Vettel despite having significantly less experience, something that the 4-time world champion Vettel would not have appreciated at all.
Things took an ugly turn when Charles and Seb crashed into each other at the Brazilian GP, ending the race for both. Both blamed the other for the fiasco. A lot of heated arguments happened behind the scenes, as per the reports. Sebastian maintained a calm composure on the outside but it was clear that things are not all good at Ferrari.
Before the 2020 season started, Maranello signed a multi-year contract with Leclerc firmly putting its weight behind the 22 year old. All this while not extending Vettel’s contract. This would have further diminished his confidence and his belief in Ferrari to have his back.
In the hindsight it looks inevitable that Vettel would part ways with Ferrari.
On the outside, Charles and Vettel always showed mutual respect for each other.
After the announcement, Charles took to twitter and wrote the following :-
“It’s been a huge honor for me to be your teammate. We’ve had some tense moments on tracks. Some very good ones and some others that didn’t end as we both wanted, but there was always respect, even though it wasn’t perceive this way from the outsideI’ve never learnt so much as I did with you as my teammate. Thank you for everything Seb.”
With Seb’s exit, it comes down on Charles to win the World Championship for Ferrari. Not the easiest of tasks as many reputed drivers like Alonso and Vettel have tried and failed. Moreover the other seat at Ferrari is still vacant. It will be interesting to see who Scuderia choose, although all rumors point to the current McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr.
Coming few days and weeks will be exciting despite no races going on currently.