On the fringes of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel’s former team boss Otmar Szafnauer spoke about the German’s retirement and had a few interesting stories to tell.
“He’s a great guy,” says the Alpine team boss, who worked with Vettel at Aston Martin the year before. “I have him [nach dem Rücktritt] called and wished the best for the future.”
“He may be retiring now, but I’m sure he’ll do something else that’s worthy and worthwhile. But when you get to know him as a person, he’s an amazing person, with a big heart,” Szafnauer said.
Szafnauer regrets Vettel’s missed move to Honda
Asked about his best stories with Vettel, Szafnauer elaborates: “I’ve known him since he was 18 or 19 years old. I was at Honda Racing and Seb came to me and said, ‘I have a two-week window, in I’m out of contract with both Red Bull and BMW, so are you guys interested in signing me?'”
“He was an unknown quantity at the time, but I was like, ‘Yeah, the boy is good. Two-week window!’ So I went to Gil de Ferran [damaliger Sportdirektor bei Honda] and said, ‘We have a two-week window to sign Seb Vettel!'”
“He said to me, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got my eye on him.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean, you’ve got your eye on him? We’ve got two weeks!’ Anyway, we didn’t sign him then,” Szafnauer regrets.
Szafnauer and Vettel’s house bread
“But I have another good story with Vettel, and this time a good one,” continues the Alpine team boss. “During the COVID phase he felt more comfortable not going to a hotel where he could have caught COVID than when he was at our house in England because everyone was tested every day so everyone knew that we are COVID-free.”
“And every time he came to our house, he would bring home-baked bread that he had baked in Switzerland in that little bag that he had with him. And I remember the first time I saw that the kids everyone is watching.”
“They loved Seb’s home-baked bread more than anything. So every time he came, he had to bring his home-baked bread. But brilliant! I mean, who else does that?” Szafnauer says happily. “It was white bread, which looked braided and was just delicious.”