Dear Seb ❤️
I’ve been dreading to write this ever since that summer day in late July; when I and the whole F1 community watched your video announcing your retirement. It made me cry. For the last couple of years your retirement was something I feared. Because I knew that that meant that we would lose a very special figure and driver in Formula 1. An extremely talented driver who has won 4 world championships. An outstanding achievement which only a few on this world can claim. A man whose passion for the sport reaches to infinity, on and off the track. But besides that, also a man who’s the most sincere, down to earth, and kindhearted. A man who’s genuinely good in every fiber of his body. A role model for every generation. A man with incredible work ethic, who’s always helping and caring for others and who will fight against injustice. All the stories fans and people in the paddock tell and write about you, Seb, describe what a wonderful person you are.
From the first F1 race I watched, you have stolen my heart and have been my favourite ever since. Sometimes I joke that one doesn’t choose who they support, but the driver ‘chooses’ you. And actually, this may very well be true. You have an undeniable attraction around you. Not only thanks to your raw talent - which has me in awe time and again - but also because of the person that you are. And the fact that I recognise myself in you. The way you handle things, the way you make jokes and the way you treat people. In you I see the values in life that I too have. You have been a role model for me and thanks to you I have always wanted to improve in life. Thanks to your perseverance each race weekend and the believe to never give up. You have motivated me to always try and to believe in myself. Last summer I graduated from my masters at uni. Thank you for getting me through all those years of hard work. Even though you probably don’t realise it, rooting for you has kept me going and I know that’s the case for a lot of other fans too.
I don’t know how to say goodbye. I think I still don’t realise that after today, after this last race in Abu Dhabi, you won’t be on the grid anymore. Next season, we won’t see you race in F1. It hurts to think that you won’t be there. My heart is aching and while writing this, I am tearing up again. For the umpteenth time this weekend. Because this weekend it is getting real. It feels definitive, the end of many chapters, the end of an era of a legendary driver. And I’m gonna miss you so so much.
But, I also know your reasons and I wholeheartedly support them. I wish you all the happiness in the world. To enjoy all the time with your incredible wife and kids. To have fun, explore what other things you love to do in life, to only have the obligations you set for yourself. To retire when you feel the time is right, and that is now. It is what you deserve.
God, how I have enjoyed your presence in F1... Your ecstatic cheering when taking pole or winning the race. From the ‘ring a ding a ding’s to the ‘grazie ragazzi’s. All the laughs at the press conferences and the singing on the board radios. The lion of Singapore. The king of donuts. I’m gonna miss it and I’m gonna miss you. I could go on and on and fill a book with my words for you. Only in superlatives, because that is how I will always describe you and how people will remember you. And they will, oh dear they will. Because you’re one of a kind, Seb. And I know you will never change. With tears in my eyes I tell you that I love you so much!!! Enjoy your last race! All the best for the future, champ, icon, legend!!
DANKE SEB ❤️❤️❤️
