Sebastian Vettel hailed his last race in a Formula 1 car at the Circuit of the Americas as "a lot of fun" despite a disastrous pit stop that likely cost him big points at the end of the day.
Vettel launched his race from P10 on the grid but a strong opening lap saw the Aston Martin charger move up to fifth, two spots behind teammate Lance Stroll who had profited nicely from the commotion at the first corner.
Vettel's swapped from mediums to hards after 18 laps when the safety car was deployed and maintained his position among the top six, even leading the race for two laps as he extended his stint on the medium compound.
Alas, a blunder by the Aston Martin crews produced a painfully slow 16-second pitstop that sent Vettel tumbling. But from 13th and with little to lose, the four-time world champion progressively made up part of the lost ground to conclude his afternoon P8.
But it was Vettel's spirited battle with Haas' Kevin Magnussen in the closing stages of the race that really regaled the future F1 retiree.
"Obviously, you’re racing for P8 and not for P1, 2, 3," said Vettel. "But I still had a lot of fun.
"Unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace down the straights to just pass comfortably, so I had to try something unusual, either on brakes or in unusual spots.
"And I did and it worked most of the time. So yes, I definitely had some fun and I had tight battles, especially with Kevin at the end of the last lap.
"It’s a bit of a climax and he’s one of the most difficult ones to overtake in the entire field. But he left just enough room and it was good fun for both of us."
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As he pondered his action-packed race, Vettel was very much aware that he had enjoyed his final outing at COTA, and that each race has become a countdown to Abu Dhabi, where the 53-time Grand Prix winner will close the curtain on his career in F1.
"I obviously will miss these moments," he said. “That’s not a secret.
"But I did think long and hard making the decision [to retire] and I also thought about these moments that I will miss the adrenaline and so on.
"So yes, obviously parts of me will miss those a lot of other parts are looking forward to what’s coming."
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