The world champion from 2010 to 2013 has announced his retirement.
(Photo: ddp/abaca press)
Berlin Germany’s most successful Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel ends his career at the end of the 2022 season. The Heppenheimer was able to experience 53 victories and four world championship titles in his career. Vettel wants to complete ten more races – then it’s over. Vettel announced this in a video message on his Instagram channel.
His racing team Aston Martin absolutely wanted to continue with Vettel. Team boss Mike Krack emphasized Vettel’s extreme commitment, his experience and his ability to motivate and advance a team. Vettel’s goals, however, have changed. “Away from race wins and fighting for championships, towards my children,” Vettel explains his resignation.
Many experts are not surprised by the racing driver’s decision. Vettel thought long and hard about retiring. But Vettel and Formula 1 didn’t just go together in terms of sport in recent years. The German celebrated the last of his 53 victories in 2019 at the Singapore Grand Prix.
His criticism of the sport and his commitment to human rights and the climate have become louder and louder. “Being a Formula 1 driver brings things with it that I no longer like,” says Vettel in his farewell statement. He is alluding to the venues for Formula 1 races and the wasted resources of racing.
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Vettel’s protests are met with criticism in racing
The rainbow flag, a sticker against the Ukraine war, a call to protect bees – Sebastian Vettel repeatedly put political and social messages on his racing helmet. At this year’s Grand Prix in Canada, he wanted to wear a special helmet to draw attention to the environmentally harmful tar sand mining. However, the team and the international motorsport governing body (FIA) advised him not to do so.
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But not only does Vettel regularly use his helmet for political messages. At the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, he wore a rainbow-themed t-shirt that read “Same Love”. The rainbow flag has been an international symbol of tolerance and diversity since the 1970s. Just a few weeks before the Grand Prix in Budapest, Viktor Orban passed laws restricting information about homosexuality and transsexuality.
Sebastian Vettel sent a signal against Orban’s homosexual laws with the rainbow colors.
(Photo: Pool via REUTERS)
FIA boss Mohammed bin Sulayem criticized Vettel in an interview with Grandprix247.com: “Niki Lauda and Alain Prost were only concerned with driving. Now Vettel is riding a rainbow bike.” Vettel was warned by the FIA and Formula 1 after the race for his statement.
“I’m not a saint”
He also criticized the venues of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi and took a knee during the Black Lives Matter protests in a show of solidarity. Vettel has been aware of the contradictions between his life as a racing driver and his commitment to human rights and climate protection for years. He therefore designed his trips to be as climate-friendly as possible: no flights within Europe, no electric cars or train journeys.
“I’m not a saint,” said Vettel in an interview with the British news channel BBC when asked if his commitment was not hypocritical. Vettel replied that although the car was his passion, when he got out he thought: “Is this something we should be doing – traveling the world and wasting resources?” Now, after 15 years, Vettel is putting an end to the “wasting of resources” in Formula 1 .
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