Sebastian Vettel will leave Formula 1 after the current season. The four-time world champion justified his early retirement from the premier class of motorsport with the fact that he wanted to spend more time with his family. The 35-year-old can no longer identify with the future of the premier class, as his recent criticism of the racing series shows.
Sebastian Vettel is one of those Formula 1 drivers who don’t just think about success on the track. Like the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, the man from Heppenheim repeatedly addresses structural and social problems, and he has particularly discovered the topics of sustainability and climate protection for himself.
The measures taken by Formula 1 to protect the climate in order to drive climate-neutrally by 2030 are not met with much enthusiasm by Vettel. The introduction of synthetic fuels, for example, comes far too late for him, as he said in an interview with “Auto Motor and Sport” clarified.
“The technology is already there. It’s not new technology,” emphasized Vettel, referring to the introduction of synthetic fuels planned for 2026. “Formula 1 likes to claim that you are a technical pioneer. But you would have been a pioneer if you had unpacked it ten years ago.”
That’s one of the reasons why he remains skeptical about the Formula 1 plans overall: “It only works with a balance, i.e. if you try to save emissions elsewhere so that the bill works. It will be interesting which projects you choose.”
“If Formula 1 controls itself, then that’s a nice slogan”
The choice of projects is particularly important, emphasized the Aston Martin driver: “There is a lot that sounds nice, but is pretty empty in terms of content.”
Vettel explained that whether Formula 1 will actually take a step towards climate neutrality in the coming years will also be measured by the necessary controls. “The question is what happens if you don’t meet the targets. Who is the controller? If Formula 1 controls itself, that’s a nice slogan, but not particularly credible. In the end, it’s important that you too ready to cut a slice of their own gain in order to take credible steps with it.”