Sebastian Vettel, one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, left behind a hole in the F1 paddock when he announced his retirement in 2022. The four-time world champion stated that his priority in life lay outside of F1, and he wanted to spend more time with his family as his children grow older.
Vettel’s absence is a sure miss, but when the German was gearing up for his last race, his fellow drivers including Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were adamant that he will return to the sport sooner or later. In a recent interview with RTL, Vettel admitted that there is a possibility of him making a return.
NEWS: Sebastian Vettel will retire from #F1 at the end of the 2022 season, bringing one of the greatest careers in the history of the sport to a close.
Read more from Sebastian, Lawrence Stroll and Mike Krack. ⬇️
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) July 28, 2022
Vettel spoke about how he is happy to be away from F1 at the moment. However, he hinted that there is a chance he may ‘go crazy’ sitting on his couch for so long, being away from what he loves the most- racing.
“It may also be that I go crazy in half a year,” Vettel said. “Can’t stand it on the couch anymore and want to drive again.“
Sebastian Vettel open to competing in other racing ventures
Even though Vettel became a legend because of Formula 1, and a small part inside him still wants to make an emphatic return to the sport that gave him so much, he says that he may discover other passions in life.
F1 might be the most popular form of motorsport, but it is most certainly not the only one. Vettel acknowledges this fact, and says that he is also open to racing in other ventures. He also talked about experiences outside of the world of racing, and revealed how he took a bus to Sweden for the 2023 Race of Champions.
Seb: “Everything is conceivable at the moment, it can go in all the different possible directions. It may also be that I go crazy in half a year, can’t stand it on the couch anymore and want to drive again.“ pic.twitter.com/L2ahqGz2RZ
— Naca ⁵ (@F1ToRuleThemAll) March 30, 2023
“It can also be that my passion turns in a completely different direction and my ambition can bundle all the experiences into another project,” Vettel continued. “We took the bus to Scandinavia for the Race of Champions. We took time for a nice, long round trip. I think we drove almost 6000 kilometers. That was very nice.”
Aston Martin wanted Vettel back in 2023
Ahead of the start of the 2023 season, Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll suffered a biking accident, because of which his participation in the opening round was in doubt. As soon as fans heard about Stroll’s potential unavailability, they called for Vettel to be brought back for one last race.
The Silverstone-based outfit issued a statement saying their reserve driver Felipe Drugovich would replace the Canadian in case he couldn’t compete. However, team principal Mike Krack confirmed later, that they did consider having Sebastian Vettel back for one race.
In the end, they did not contact Vettel because of the 35-year-old’s decision to retire, which Krack and Aston Martin wanted to respect. Fortunately for them, Stroll recovered in time, and drove a brilliant race to finish P6 at the Bahrain GP.
