Vettel announced at the Hungarian Grand Prix that he would be leaving F1 at the end of the 2022 season, and the team moved quickly to replace him with Fernando Alonso.
While he won’t reap any personal benefits, Vettel remains keen to help the team improve after a difficult season at AMR22.
Asked after the Belgian Grand Prix if Vettel was still thinking about future improvements, Clark said: “Yes, yes.
“There You can also see how professional he is and how engaged he is still. In fact, he said in his presentation today, “Next year’s car, please think about it.” So he went all out. “
Clark said Vettel showed no signs of getting back on track or deviating from it, citing his struggle at Spa to finish eighth.
“Ah no, that’s not his character. I mean, he’s a professional. He will give everything until the last moment. It’s also the first thing he said when he told us to stop is that he’s going to give it his all until the end. We’ve seen it today [Sunday]. “
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22
Photo: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
In announcing his retirement, Vettel admitted he had been distracted by thoughts about the future , but Clark played down any suggestion that the Germans now have an easier approach.
“No, not at all,” he added. “That’s an interesting point. I also had a long conversation with him on Thursday about how he felt about it and all of that. And he really didn’t want to hear the word ‘farewell’.
“I saw a flag with ‘Thank you, Sebastian’ and was asked that it was a farewell tour. It wasn’t at all. We didn’t think it was [Farewell] ]. We’ll say goodbye at the end of the season, but until then we’ll give it our all because we’re a little bit behind some of the teams ahead. And we really can’t finish where we are now.
“I think it’s more about going to the airport, sitting on the plane, maybe he’ll think more about family and stuff like that. But I think when he’s in the car, he’s got his full attention. ”
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Clark said there was no discussion with Vettel about his future ambassadorship at Aston Martin.
“Honestly Say, we haven’t talked about it yet. Plus, because the announcement was made before the shutdown. And I think we also have to give him time to think.
“He needs to make a plan. And I think, maybe before he does anything else, he also wants to take a break. So we haven’t talked about it yet.”
