“We want to warmly thank Sebastian for the incredible role he has played at
Infiniti Red Bull Racing for the last six years.”
In a personal statement, the 27-year-old said: “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 soon.”
Although Vettel’s spokesperson would not confirm that the German driver was
headed for Ferrari, Horner immediately let it out of the back when
interviewed by the press on Saturday morning. “Obviously Ferrari made him a
very attractive offer.”
It marks the starting gun in a series of driver market moves which has
promised to be the most eventful in years.