Vettel: My future in F1 depends on whether AMR22 can win

Sebastian Vettel's future in F1 will depend on whether his new Aston Martin AMR22 can get him to the top of the podium.

Vettel joined Aston Martin last season on a two-year contract. The first year did not go as planned, with the team winning a race with Sergio Perez the previous year but failing to maintain that form as they fell to seventh place in the constructors' standings.

Vettel did take a runner-up podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but this season Aston Martin paid a heavy price for F1's aerodynamic adjustments. This has reignited speculation that the German may choose to retire, and this is not the first time in his career that he has been plagued by rumors of retirement.

While Vettel will still have a place in F1 this year, he was still asked about retirement.

Speaking at the launch of the AMR22, the 34-year-old German driver told the media: "I think I've been in the sport for a while, I've had good years and not so good years, and in the good years I've had a very competitive car and a competitive team. Now, there's no doubt that the team I'm in is very competitive, the team spirit is good, the goals are clear and we want to improve and win. So, ultimately, what I'm most interested in is winning, which will determine what happens in the future. ”

Vettel test-drove the AMR22 at Silverstone on Friday, and the four-time world champion said drivers face a huge challenge this season with how to adapt to the brand new model.

"From a driving point of view, I think the main challenge for all of us will be to adapt to driving these cars," he said. They feel a little different from what they feel in simulated driving. Then I think it depends on where we are and the ideal challenge would be to fight for victory and achieve a lot of success. But at this point, I don't have high expectations because now you don't know what's right and what's wrong. The key goal this year is to show that we're working on a really good car from the start, or improve our car throughout the season – or both. ”