Sebastian Vettel has announced his retirement from Formula 1.
The four-time world champion broke the news to fans with a shock announcement on social media on Thursday. The German joined Instagram and quickly gained 500,000 followers, before telling them he plans to retire at the end of the year.
"I have had the privilege of working with many fantastic people in Formula 1 over the past 15 years – there are far too many to mention and thank," he said. "Over the past two years I have been an Aston Martin driver – and, although our results have not been as good as we had hoped, it is very clear to me that everything is being put together that a team needs to race at the very highest level for years to come.
