Vettel “at peace” with disappointing final F1 season with Ferrari in 2020

Sebastian Vettel says he's moved on from the disappointment of last season as he embarks on a new Formula 1 adventure with Aston Martin in 2021.

Vettel endured his worst F1 season in 2020, ending the campaign 13th overall in the drivers' championship.

The German picked up just one podium in 17 races and was comprehensively outscored by Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc by 65 points. 

The four-time world champion's poor form in 2020 vindicated Ferrari's decision to drop him prior to the season with the Scuderia opting to replace him with Carlos Sainz. 

Speaking at the launch of Aston's Martin's AMR21, Vettel reflected on last season, he said: “Well in all honesty it was not just at the end of the year but the whole year was a challenge.

“I’ve obviously thought about it a lot last year, during the season, and I’m obviously not happy with how last year went in terms of performance, partly my performance, but yeah I think I accepted in terms of I’ve been living through it and yeah… I don’t have any regrets, obviously there are things that didn’t go well and things I would have liked to go better, and differently and so on, but ultimately I’m very much looking forward to this year.

“I’m very much at peace with last year. I know that it hasn’t been to my standards that I mostly hold myself, I’ve never really cared what people say or think or, sorry, write, but that’s why I think it’s important I’m at peace with that myself, and very much looking forward to this year, and having very, very high expectations myself.”

Despite no longer racing for Ferrari and the immense pressure driving for the Italian team brings, Vettel says the pressure to perform remains the same regardless of what team he's driving for.

“I don’t think there’s always a link between pressure and enjoyment,” Vettel added. “I think you can enjoy a lot when you’re under pressure, in fact I put a lot of pressure and expectation on myself. So in that regard nothing changes. The satisfaction that you get when you cross the line and you’ve done a good job - you are your first and best judge.

“So that hasn’t changed, I don’t expect it to change. If you talk about pressure, I’d be very happy to have tonnes of pressure and be able to fight for the championship, that’s ultimately what I would love to do. Obviously for us this year it’s a different situation to be in, I think it’s a great challenge and we accept that and we want to master the challenge and hopefully come out better than what we thought.

“The best way of doing that normally is to go step-by-step and focus on the things that are right in front of you, not getting disturbed by the big picture if there is such a thing.”