Sebastian Vettel sensationally refuses to rule out a return to Formula 1 just a year after retiring, admitting a potential return would ‘depend on the challenge’
- Sebastian Vettel has refused to rule out a return to Formula 1 a year after retiring
- The former F1 driver did admit any return would ‘depend on the challenge’
- Vettel, who formerly raced for Aston Martin, recently invested in a Sail GP team
Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from Formula 1 in 2022 but it appears he hasn’t completely ruled out a return to the grid.
The four-time F1 world champion has left the door open for a comeback but admitted that any potential return to the sport would ‘depend on the challenge’ at stake.
In a career that started in 2007 and spanned 16 seasons, the German raced 299 times, claiming 122 podiums and 53 wins.
He ended his career with Aston Martin, having also raced for BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull and Ferrari.
Legends of the sport Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda all spent time away from the sport before returning, with Lauda notably winning the 1984 world championship after coming out of retirement.
Sebastian Vettel has hinted that he could make a return to F1 ‘depending on the challenge’
Vettel (left) retired in 2022, after a 16-season career that saw him win 53 times in 299 starts
Vettel won four world championships during his time in the sport with the Red Bull team
And similarly, Vettel has hinted at doing the same. When pressed by Sky Sport’s Martin Brundle if there was a chance he could come back, he said: ‘I can’t say no, because that you don’t know.
‘I think it’s something that if you asked all of them, probably some of them would have said ‘no’.
‘And some of them I don’t know, but in the end all of them came back, so I can’t exclude it.’
In July last year, he announced he would be stepping away from the sport, wantind to spend more time with his family as well as expressing concerns over climate change.
Before his retirement, the German, who is a longstanding environmental campaigner, admitted he questioned whether to retire amid his own concerns over climate change.
Since then he has continued to remain prominent in F1 circles, recently backing Mick Schumacher to make a return to the grid, while also supporting Max Verstappen to level his record having claimed nine F1 wins in a row.
Vettel was succeeded by Alonso at Aston Martin, who, in the German’s absence, has helped the team push higher up the F1 driver’s standings, to sit third behind Red Bull partnership Verstappen and Perez. And at the age of 42, the Spaniard is the oldest driver on the grid.
Yet Vettel admitted that while he was enjoying his time away from motor racing, having notably invested in Germany’s SailGP team, Vettel said any come back would ‘depend on the challenge’.
‘It probably will depend much on when, and obviously it’s not endless, because 36 is not like, “yeah in 10 years” time’,’ he added.
‘Maybe I think about it then, time has passed but it will depend on the challenge, whatever, but it’s not in my head right now.
Vettel’s careers in numbers – The German won four world championships during his time in F1
Vettel has campaigned vocally on environmental issues, including saving the bees (above)
Vettel has grown increasingly concerned with F1’s impact on the environment in recent years
‘And I’m enjoying the sort of outlook of the challenge of what to do next.
‘It will be the way I see it, the biggest challenge for any racing driver and the biggest challenge for any sportsman, sportswoman, what do you do after?
‘Because naturally, you will be like 30-35, 40-45 – depending on your sport and discipline. And then what?
‘There’s a lot of life left and life can be great even though you’re not racing, you know, the absolute limit in the fastest car in the world, but you can still do lots of great things that give you great pleasure.’
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