Sebastian Vettel discloses what makes him 'feel sad' about leaving F1

Sebastian Vettel, who is racing his way to retirement in his last F1 season, spoke about an instance that made him feel sad about retiring from the sport. The youngest world champion was heard expressing his sadness about leaving in reaction to his impressive run at qualifying, where he put his Aston Martin in the 9th place on the grid for the Japanese GP on Sunday.

The four-time world champion said on team radio:

"At the same time, I am a bit sad – because it is the last time I will ever tackle this track in qualifying trim. I do not mind if it rains tomorrow – I cannot influence the weather! But I think wet conditions would probably be a bit better for us. Still, we had a strong day today and I think we can make a difference managing the tyres whatever the weather. Laps like these make me feel sad about leaving F1."

Vettel has spoken about his love for the track and how it's one of his personal favorites to race on every year. He’s had a great weekend so far, qualifying in the top 10 as opposed to his teammate Lance Stroll qualifying on the last row. Vettel seemed even more optimistic about the race, talking about playing with strategy around the wet conditions that the track has surprisingly offered this year.

Sebastian Vettel has had an underwhelming final season in F1, scoring just 24 points in 17 races. He is currently 12th in the world drivers’ championship standings. This weekend, however, seems different as he has seen Q3 for just the fourth time this season.

The German announced his retirement earlier this season through his first Instagram post. His replacement with Fernando Alonso post-announcement sparked a massive Alpine drama. Sebastian Vettel, in his last few years in the sport, has seen more downs than ups with Ferrari and now Aston Martin but the fans have stuck with him through it all, making him one of the most popular drivers on the grid.

The German has mentioned how his fans will forget him in a few years, but looking at the turnout in his support in Japan, it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon. Sebastian Vettel told Motorsport earlier this season:

"I’m sure that when I say goodbye to Formula 1, I will be forgotten very quickly and that’s fine with me, I think that’s right."

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Sebastian Vettel puts his Aston Martin in P9 in Suzuka

Sebastian Vettel extracted the maximum performance out of his Aston Martin and put it P9 for Sunday's race. The wet weather helped the four-time world champion outclass the rest of the grid.

Lance Stroll, his teammate bombed out in Q1, starting the race from P19, just ahead of Nicholas Latifi in his Williams. He talked about his mistake in qualifying, saying:

"Unfortunately, I locked up in the hairpin at Turn 11 and lost three-tenths, and that was the difference between us making it out of Q1 today."

Stroll had an amazing race last weekend when he finished sixth in a wet Singapore GP. The Aston Martin driver will be looking to recreate some of that magic tomorrow and score some points.