Seb Vettel: Career, Teams, Retirement, and Net Worth

World Championships: 4 · Grand Prix Wins: 53 · Podiums: 122 · Teams Driven For: 5

Six numbers, one pattern: a career that runs from a substitute debut to a record-breaking peak, then lingers in cars that were promising but never quite good enough.

The numbers confirm the shape: a sharp rise, a long plateau just below the summit, and an exit before the decline became visible.

How many teams has Sebastian Vettel played for?

The short answer is five, if you count the one-race cameo that started everything. Vettel’s first start came as a substitute for BMW Sauber at the 2007 United States Grand Prix (Formula 1 (driver profile)); his real career played out across Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, and Aston Martin (ABC News Australia (broadcaster)).

Which teams did Vettel drive for?

• BMW Sauber (2007): one substitute appearance at the United States Grand Prix (Formula 1 (driver profile))
• Toro Rosso (2007–2008): a full seat, then his first win at the Italian Grand Prix (ABC News (US broadcaster)) — at 21, the youngest F1 winner to that point (Formula 1 (driver profile))
• Red Bull Racing (2009–2014): four consecutive titles (Reuters (news agency))
• Ferrari (2015–2020): 14 wins, no championship (ABC News (US broadcaster))
• Aston Martin (2021–2022): two seasons, no further wins (Formula 1 (official site))

Note the split: 38 of Vettel’s 53 wins came at Red Bull, 14 at Ferrari, and one at Toro Rosso (ABC News (US broadcaster)). The teams that shaped him were the teams that gave him a car capable of winning.

How many seasons did Vettel spend at Red Bull?

• Six seasons, from 2009 through 2014 (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))
• Four of those seasons ended with the World Championship (Reuters (news agency))
• The Red Bull years produced 38 of his 53 wins (ABC News (US broadcaster))

Six seasons at Ferrari followed, from 2015 through 2020 (Reuters (news agency)), making Red Bull and Ferrari the two long chapters of a career that began with a cameo and ended with a rebuild.

Why did Vettel leave Ferrari?

By his own later admission, the Aston Martin car was less competitive than he had hoped during those final two seasons (Formula 1 (official site)).

Which season was Sebastian Vettel’s best?

Statistically, the answer is unambiguous: 2013. Vettel won 13 of the 19 races, including nine in a row — at the time the longest streak in F1 history — and clinched his fourth consecutive title (Formula 1 (official site)). The record has since been surpassed by Max Verstappen’s 2023 run, but 2013 remains the measuring stick for Vettel’s peak (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry)).

What were Vettel’s statistics in 2013?

• 13 wins in 19 rounds, including 9 consecutive wins — a record at the time (Formula 1 (official site))
• Championship: 1st, his fourth in a row (Reuters (news agency))

How many wins did Vettel have in his championship seasons?

• All four titles came at Red Bull, between 2010 and 2013 (Reuters (news agency))
• Only in 2013 did he win more than half of the races on the calendar (Formula 1 (official site))
• Career total: 53 wins (Aston Martin F1 (his last team)), 122 podiums and 57 pole positions (Formula 1 (official site))

What made 2013 stand out?

What made the season distinctive was not just the total, but the consistency: 13 wins in 19 races means that on nearly any given Sunday, Vettel was the favorite.

What this means: 2013 is the cleanest answer to “how good was Vettel?” — one full season where driver, team, and car were aligned. Every other year of his career had a catch.

Why did Vettel retire?

Vettel announced in July 2022 that he would leave Formula 1 at the end of the season (Aston Martin F1 (his last team)). It was a voluntary decision — neither a medical issue nor a regulatory problem forced him out (Reuters (news agency)).

When did Vettel announce his retirement?

• Announced July 2022 and effective at the end of the season; his final race was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Aston Martin F1 (his last team))
• The decision was voluntary, not driven by health or regulatory issues (Reuters (news agency))

What did Vettel say about his retirement reasons?

• Family time was the central reason — he wanted to be present as his children grew (Reuters (news agency))
• He also cited environmental and social concerns and interests outside F1 as changing his priorities (ABC News (US broadcaster))
• His stated goals shifted from titles toward passing on his values (Aston Martin F1 (his last team))

In his own announcement, the framing was deliberate: this was a choice about the life he wanted next, not a concession to results.

Is Vettel coming back to F1?

• His stated position: no return planned (Aston Martin F1 (his last team))
• Current focus: family life and environmental advocacy (ABC News (US broadcaster))

F1 history is full of un-retirements, but Vettel has said nothing to suggest he regrets the decision or wants a farewell tour.

The trade-off: he left without settling the argument about his Ferrari years, but with the rare luxury of choosing the moment himself.

Is Sebastian Vettel better than Max Verstappen?

This is the comparison every modern F1 fan eventually reaches. Both won their titles at Red Bull, both were accused of winning mainly because of the car, and both have the race-winning numbers to answer those accusations. The honest first answer: it depends on whether you value a finished career or an in-progress one (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry)).

Five rows, one pattern: Vettel has the longer record and the higher title count for now; Verstappen has the steeper trajectory and the fresher records.

How do their career statistics compare?

The pattern: the only column where Verstappen does not lead right now is the one that counts a finished career — and that lead is the one most likely to shrink.

Who has more championships?

• Vettel: 4, all consecutive, all at Red Bull (Reuters (news agency))
• Verstappen: 3 as of 2023, all consecutive, all at Red Bull, career still running (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))

The gap is one title, and it is moving in Verstappen’s direction. The fair comparison will only be possible once both careers are complete.

Who has more wins?

• Vettel: 53 across his career (Aston Martin F1 (his last team))
• Verstappen: still counting, with a higher win rate already established (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))

For now, Vettel has more total wins; the rate at which Verstappen accumulates them suggests the total will not hold.

How do their driving styles differ?

What the data does support: both won multiple titles in cars that were faster than the field, and both delivered when their teams needed them most. The rest is preference.

Are Hamilton and Vettel friends?

They spent consecutive seasons fighting for championships, and their 2017 and 2018 title duels were as intense as F1 produced in that era (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry)). Instead of becoming enemies, they became the paddock’s most visible friendship.

Do Hamilton and Vettel get along?

• They speak of each other with consistent, public respect (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))
• Hamilton has praised Vettel’s character and competitiveness beyond the usual rivalry courtesy (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))
• Their relationship outlasted their on-track battles, with no major animosity reported (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))

The friendship is not a publicity pose: it survived the most competitive years of both careers.

Have they ever clashed on track?

• They fought deep into both the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and Hamilton won both titles (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))
• Vettel’s Ferrari had the speed to challenge, but not quite enough to finish the job (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))

That is close enough to count as a rivalry, but it never spilled into the kind of permanent feud F1 has seen elsewhere.

What do they say about each other?

Hamilton has described Vettel as one of the toughest competitors he has faced and, more tellingly, as someone he considers a friend (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry)).

Both sides have spoken positively since the retirement announcement; the rivalry now reads more like a shared history than a grievance.

The pattern: the sharpest rivals often become the best judges of each other. Vettel and Hamilton turned a four-year title war into a model of how champions behave toward each other afterward.

Sebastian Vettel career timeline

Ten moments, one shape: a rapid rise, a dominant peak, and a long, graceful walk-out.

Why this matters: the shape of the timeline is the whole story — four years of total control, then eight years of almost. Vettel’s legacy is the peak, but the long tail is what made the exit so deliberate.

What’s confirmed and what’s still unclear

Confirmed facts

• Vettel won four consecutive championships with Red Bull, 2010–2013 (Reuters (news agency))
• He retired after the 2022 season (Aston Martin F1 (his last team))
• He drove for BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin (ABC News Australia (broadcaster))
• His statistical peak was the 2013 season (Formula 1 (official site))

What’s unclear

• Whether retirement is permanent — he has said yes, but F1 has a history of comebacks (Aston Martin F1 (his last team))
• How his legacy would change if he had stayed at Red Bull after 2014 — no public record exists to test this
• His exact net worth, estimated between $140 million and $200 million (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))
• Whether his Ferrari years will be read as noble failures or wasted potential — 14 wins and no titles leave room for both readings (ABC News (US broadcaster))

The distinction matters: the confirmed list is the hard record; the unclear items are the reasons this career still generates arguments.

What the key voices said

His goals had shifted away from winning races and championships — toward seeing his children grow and passing on his values.

— Sebastian Vettel, 2022 retirement announcement (Aston Martin F1 (his last team))

Lewis Hamilton has described Sebastian Vettel as one of the toughest competitors he has faced — and, more tellingly, as someone he considers a friend.

— Lewis Hamilton, public comments (Wikipedia (encyclopedia entry))

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal during Vettel’s title years, has credited the 2013 dominance to a driver who trusted the car completely.

— Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing team principal (Formula 1 (official site))

The thread: three very different voices describing the same man — a champion who left with the paddock’s respect intact and his reasons clear.

The takeaway

Vettel leaves behind a statistical record that still ranks among the strongest in F1 history, plus something rarer: a reputation for leaving on his own terms, before the sport could push him out. For F1 teams weighing a veteran signing, the calculus is clear: hire the champion for his experience and his values, or admit that his best titles are behind him and plan for a rebuild either way.

Frequently asked questions

What almost every Vettel FAQ comes back to is the gap between a dominant peak and the question of what came next — the mark of a career people are still debating.

The recurring question in every Vettel FAQ is the same: how to weigh the peak against the years that followed it.