{"id":18567,"date":"2022-11-24T17:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T17:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/?p=18567"},"modified":"2022-11-24T12:38:21","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T12:38:21","slug":"sebastian-vettel-makes-surprising-claim-about-fernando-alonso-in-abu-dhabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/sebastian-vettel-makes-surprising-claim-about-fernando-alonso-in-abu-dhabi\/","title":{"rendered":"Sebastian Vettel makes surprising claim about Fernando Alonso in Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fans have been crying out for Sebastian Vettel to reconsider his decision to retire in recent weeks, not just because of how well liked the German is in F1, but also because he is still showing performance levels worthy of being in the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 35-year-old ended the season with a flurry of \u2018Driver of the Day\u2019 awards after rolling back the years at multiple race weekends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The season finale was no different with Vettel making it all the way through to Q3 in his Aston Martin, before coming home in P10 to score a point for his team despite an ineffective strategy choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernando Alonso joked before the race that he would allow his friend through at the start of the race and protect him in his final Grand Prix, and Vettel has now claimed that he was aware of his fellow drivers not wanting to take him out of his final race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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READ: Russian Ferrari driver makes admission about his F1 chances<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could feel that a bit with Fernando, he was very generous at the beginning,\u201d said Vettel when asked if he thought the other drivers were nervous about ending his final race early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter that the Saubers fought very hard because the wanted to defend the constructors\u2019 [position].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a shame I was stuck behind Esteban at the beginning because I thought we had a better deg but then we stayed out way too long and lost so much time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It initially looked like the 35-year-old would finish his swansong empty handed, however a late retirement from Lewis Hamilton due to a hydraulic issue saw Vettel pick up a free position and move up to tenth place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solo point he scored was not enough to take Aston Martin ahead of Alfa Romeo in the championship, which was their aim for the race, which Vettel as has was a shame as a different strategy could have yielded a different result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is obviously very nice [to score a point],\u201d said the German.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Martin Brundle claims Lewis Hamilton should\u2019ve received penalty at Abu Dhabi GP https:\/\/t.co\/o3ikkifUOy<\/a><\/p>— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) November 23, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>