Despite speculation of an F1 comeback, Sebastian Vettel remains a retired icon with a lasting legacy beyond racing.
While various rumours, of varying credibility, suggest a keen interest in returning to F1, and potential contacts with Audi and Mattia Binotto, Sebastian Vettel remains, for the moment, retired from the paddock.
Two years ago, in July 2022, the then Aston Martin F1 driver announced his decision to retire.
Matt Bishop, who was the head of communications for the Silverstone-based team at the time, recalled that specific day in a column published in Motorsport Magazine. It was a day he saw coming…
“Just over two years ago, on Wednesday, 27th July 2022, I was forced to do something I really dislike: at the very last minute, I had to cancel a long-planned dinner with my husband and two of our dearest friends, who live in New York and were vacationing in London for a week. The reason was that at 5 pm that afternoon, I received a phone call from Sebastian Vettel, telling me he had decided to announce his retirement from Formula 1 in the paddock at the Hungarian Grand Prix the following day.”
Bishop noted that from the start of the 2022 season, it was clear that Sebastian Vettel would not remain in F1 for long.
“Although the timing of his announcement was a surprise, the content was not. Four months earlier, you may recall, he did not travel to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he was recovering from Covid-19. He was replaced by Nico Hülkenberg, who did an excellent job.”
“Seb had not hidden his disapproval of the Saudi regime when we all first went there in December 2021, and unsurprisingly, in March 2022, rumours began to circulate that he had fabricated a Covid-19 diagnosis to avoid racing there a second time.”
“The truth is that he did have Covid-19. But was he disappointed to have to miss the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? No, he was not.”
“Two weeks later, in Melbourne, he was back. ‘The truth is that I was ill, honestly,’ he declared, ‘but I admit that I do not like nor approve of the country. So, if I had to miss a race due to Covid-19, it’s probably that one I would want to miss.’ He paused, smiled, and added: ‘I’m almost certain that I will never participate in a race in that country again.'”
“It was then I realized that 2022 would likely be his last season as an F1 driver. Not only was the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix set to be a staple on the F1 calendar for years to come, but one of Aston Martin’s main sponsors was Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. Missing that particular race without a solid excuse would now be impossible for any Aston Martin driver.”
Behind Bishop’s memories emerges the portrait of a humanist Sebastian Vettel — unsurprisingly so. We are all aware of the four-time world champion’s commitments to climate, LGBT+ rights, and minorities.
“Just before the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, assisted by local schoolchildren, he created an ‘F1 car-shaped bee hotel’ at the Red Bull Ring. Three weeks later, just after the British Grand Prix, during which he fiercely raced for 40 laps until the Mercedes engine of his Aston Martin was terminally overheated, he led a group of volunteer litter pickers to clean up the grandstands at Silverstone from the rubbish left behind by careless spectators.”
“A month later, in Hungary, outraged by the country’s new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, he wore rainbow-colored sneakers in the F1 paddock, and donned a similar-colored T-shirt bearing the slogan #SameLove when he knelt on the starting grid before the race. Throughout the weekend, he engaged with journalists and television crews in an intelligent, thoughtful, and compassionate manner about the issues of rights, equality, and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people.”
A Committed Tribute Also Behind the Scenes
Beyond these public commitments, Bishop also remembers Sebastian Vettel’s significant actions backstage, away from the cameras.
“Behind the scenes, what he did was perhaps even more commendable. F1 teams constantly receive messages from people in distress. You try to do what you can to help them, but sometimes their troubles are of a nature that human kindness alone cannot resolve. I’m talking about the recently bereaved, the terminally ill, those with severe disabilities, individuals suffering from mental disorders, and so on. Sometimes, all we can do is send them a team cap signed by a driver. It’s not much and it breaks your heart not to be able to do more, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Yet, Vettel always tried to do more. One day, I was contacted by a young man who was deeply depressed. I spoke to Seb about him, and he said, ‘Let’s do a Zoom call with him.’ That’s what we did. I had thought Seb would speak for about five minutes. But no: he chatted animatedly for over 20 minutes, with touching humility and a warmth of empathy, and I am confident in saying that those 20 minutes helped speed up the young man’s mental and emotional recovery.”
“A few months later, Seb wrote the boy a four-page letter. I read it before sending it on, and the tenderness and beauty of Seb’s prose moved me to tears. There are many other examples of his remarkable generosity and sensitivity: too many to mention, in fact.”
In summary, for Bishop, Sebastian Vettel was more than just a great driver: he was also a great man.
“He was quick and intelligent in the cockpit, and I might one day write about that aspect of his personality. I could also write much more about Vettel the man, as I have dozens of stories to tell about him, because I worked very closely with him for two years and, more importantly, because he is truly a remarkable man. Throughout my long career, I have had the fortune to spend time in F1 teams with four world champions—Seb, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Jenson Button—and they are all fantastic men in their very different ways.”
“But in 61 years of life on this planet, I can say with certainty that Sebastian Vettel, from the small town of Heppenheim in southwest Germany, is one of the most impressive individuals I have had the pleasure and honour to know, both inside and outside of F1. As he likes to say, ‘You can’t always be the best, but you can always do your best.’ It’s a life maxim that’s hard to beat.”
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