F1 News
"Less than a meter driven and already done between Vettel and Ferrari"
- GPblog.com
For some it was a surprise, for others it wasn't a question of whether it was going to happen, but when it was going to happen. In any case, the departure of Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari meant that several drivers announced in one week that they will be driving for another team in 2021. Allard Kalff and Kees van de Grint talk in Slipstream of the Dutch RTLGP about the early announcement of the German's departure.
"For me it was surprising," Grint admits. "I find it especially surprising because we haven't driven a meter yet and then it's already finished with him at Ferrari". Van de Grint was clearly impressed by Ferrari's early decision. "Vettel said himself that it wasn't about the money, but I've seen before that in the case of Ferrari they had already made a decision a season earlier to thank someone for another driver and contract them. Ferrari has a history of discarding too early with drivers".
Vettel never had the love for Ferrari
"Sebastian is of course a thinker and maybe he has realized that, even with this corona period, of course, the world is something else than just Formula 1. Still, it is a surprising decision. I wouldn't have been so surprised if they had already done some Grands Prix, but now I find it very bizarrely early". Van de Grint is clear about what he thinks of Ferrari's early decision to replace Vettel with Carlos Sainz before 2021.
Kalff himself thinks that Vettel has never really been able to convince for Ferrari, as his predecessors did. "When (Fernando) Alonso or (Michael) Schumacher went to Ferrari, they were really brought in as the savior. I think that Vettel never felt that love at Ferrari. Certainly not when she brought in (Charles) Leclerc last year. Then it was all the cards on Charles and then you're a four-time world champion, but then you're lost. That's why it's not surprising to me that they made this decision," said Kalff.