Sebastian Vettel bade a final farewell to Red Bull on Tuesday, with a pair of red Speedos and one of his championship-winning cars amongst his leaving presents.
After spending 14 years under Red Bull’s wing, with the last six of those working with the team itself in Milton Keynes, Vettel has switched allegiance to rivals Ferrari for the next three years at least.
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With the official expiry of his Red Bull contract last Friday, Vettel has since wasted no time in integrating himself into Ferrari’s world.
The 27-year-old drove the team’s 2012 F1 car on Saturday morning, was in the simulator Sunday and met with new chairman Sergio Marchionne, new team principal Maurizio Arrivabene and technical director James Allison on Monday.
In sitting behind the wheel of the Ferrari, and in conducting the test, Vettel described the experience as a “fairytale” and “magical”.
But the four-times champion still had his goodbye bash to attend with Red Bull, which in true German style included large pretzels and hot chocolate.
After speeches from team principal Christian Horner and chief technical officer Adrian Newey, and several rounds of applause, Vettel said: “You’re not making this any easier.”
Vettel added: “The last six years have been incredible. What we’ve achieved, the work that’s gone in.
“So much passion, so much dedication. It will always stay in my heart. Big, big thank you to everyone.
“In the end we had the better car because we were the better team.
“Thank you really doesn’t really describe enough what I feel. There’s a lot of happy memories from this place that I’m holding onto.
“It’s been a great journey and I’m very grateful for what all of you did for me – I’ll shut up now!”
Arguably, Newey summed up the best of Vettel’s time with the team and his approach as he said: “Whenever Sebastian’s been in the car he’s been carrying all of our hopes, our ambitions.
“But we’ve always known that he’s putting everything of himself into it as well. It’s been a real privilege.”
When it came time to the parting gifts handed out by Horner, and bearing in mind Vettel’s future destination, aside from the Speedos, there was also an espresso cup and a pair of sunglasses.
Vettel also received a 50 per cent scale model bull with his championship laurels engraved on the plinth.
Horner has also promised Vettel one of the race cars from his title-winning years of 2010 to 2013, although not just yet because as he joked: “We don’t want it turning up in Maranello.”