Vettel 'mostly interested in winning' in future

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel says that he's focussed on his prospects for winning races and titles when it comes to deciding on his future plans.

The 34-year-old German claimed his first Formula 1 win with Toro Ross in 2008 and went on to claim 38 victories at Red Bull on his way to back-to-back drivers championships.

But despite another 14 race wins at Ferrati he was never able to capture another title while at Maranello, and last year moved to Aston Martin which unveiled its 2022 contender last week.

• Read also: Stroll a believer in Aston future - not tempted to switch teams

Vettel was clear that it depended on how well the AMR22 turned out and whether it gave him the chance of returning to the top of the sport that would be key to his motor racing plans beyond the forthcoming season.

"No doubt I’m in a very competitive team and the team spirit is great," he told the media at Wednesday's launch event. "The goal is clear, we want to progress and win.

"Ultimately, having had the cars that I’ve had so far, I’m mostly interested in winning and that will determine what the future brings.

“The thing is I've had a while now in the sport, and I had good years and not-so-good years, but mostly I’d say good years, great years with a very competitive car and a competitive team.

"I think it depends where we are," he said. "The ideal challenge would be to fight for victories and a lot of podiums because we are so competitive.

“One of the key goals, key objectives for this year is to show that we are working," he continued. "And that we can either build a very good car from the start, or improve our car throughout the season. Or do both!"

©AstonMartin

This year brings a particular opportunity for Vettel, as teams switch to very different chassis designs in response to new technical rules and regulations introduced by Formula 1 and the FIA to improve overtaking.

“From a driving point of view I think the main challenge for all of us will be adapting to driving these cars," Vettel predicted. “They feel a bit different driving in the sim, but it will be different in real life.

"At this point, I don’t have any expectation," he said. "We’ve only seen fakes until today, so you have no idea what is right and what is wrong.

"We need to relate some lap times and some track experience to it, then we’ll get a better impression, so I think the goals follow where we are."

Since the launch, Vettel and his team mate Lance Stroll were able to take the new car for a shakedown on Friday at Silverstone, running on Pirelli control tyres.

And McLaren have unveiled their own 2022 car, the MCL36, giving Aston Martin something to compare their own design against.

Haas and Red Bull opted not to reveal their own chassis design at their livery-only launch events earlier in the week.

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