Sebastian Vettel will join Ferrari from next season. The four-times world champion will leave the Red Bull team where he was won the driver’s championship every year since 2010. The move will also see Fernando Alonso switching teams, with the Spaniard joining McLaren.
Red Bull said Vettel had “advised them” on Friday night – during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend - he would be leaving. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told the BBC: "All I can do is wish him the very best for the future.”
Vettel insisted he leaves the team with fond memories. He said in a statement:
“After 15 very enjoyable and successful years with Red Bull, I have decided to leave Red Bull at the end of this year.
“Of course it is a big step and hard to make such a decision. The chance to drive in F1, the first win with Scuderia Toro Rosso, the four Championship wins with Infiniti Red Bull Racing and many other great memories have bound Red Bull and myself together into a kind of family. No one can take these times away from us.
“Now I have decided to take the next step in my career but first I would like to express once again big thanks to Dietrich Mateschitz, Dr Helmut Marko, Christian Horner, the whole Red Bull Family, Infiniti Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. I would like to thank everybody within Red Bull for their confidence in me, trust and great support over the last years.
“About my future plans, there will be an announcement very soon."
Vettel has been second best at Red Bull this year as teammate Daniel Ricciardo has taken up the team’s most significant challenge for the driver’s championship. Vettel is currently fifth in the championship race.
Horner appeared to admit there had been little Red Bull could do in terms of a lucrative contract offer to retain Vettel.
“Obviously Ferrari have made him a very attractive offer,” he said.
“If somebody’s heart is not there, it doesn’t matter what you have on a piece of paper.
“It has to be right for both sides He has reached a stage in his career where he fancied a new challenge, that is his prerogative and, like in any relationship, if somebody’s heart is not in it then it is time to move on.
“I think the lure of Ferrari, a window has opened there with whatever is going on and he has decided the timing is right for him. That is his choice, and he has been around long enough to know his own mind.
“He doesn’t have a manager and doesn’t have people that surround him. He has made this decision and we respect that," Horner said.
Russian driver Daniil Kyvat will replace the Geman. Kyvat currently races for Red Bull’s second team, Torro Rosso.
Fernando Alonso looks set to leave Ferrari to accommodate Vettel’s arrival, with the Spaniard expected to move to McLaren following a mutual termination of his contract at Ferrari.
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