The factors behind Vettel’s priority shift in his final F1 chapter

“It’s not about what you leave behind, it’s about what you take with you.”

With this gnomic utterance Sebastian Vettel introduces a glossily shot video produced by Aston Martin to mark his departure from F1. As the Hans Zimmer-esque soundtrack soars to a pinnacle of glassy strings undercut by a persistent bass clef rumbling, the impression is one of a driver thoughtfully shimmying out of the door, shrouded in a fog of aphorisms.

How to parse this apparently profound and yet profoundly counter-intuitive statement? During what we might call the third phase of his F1 career Vettel underwent another transformation, into what some may call (disparagingly) a ‘social justice warrior’. But here’s the thing: he doesn’t care what label you might want to apply to his activism. Neither does he expect any of his now former colleagues and rivals to espouse the same causes he has championed.

As he said to Lando Norris on Sky Sports F1 after the Abu Dhabi GP: “It’s for other people to decide what a legacy is but you can try to have an influence on that. You should just be yourself. As much as you have role models, you still have to learn to find your own way, stand up for the things that are important to you. They don’t have to be the same for all of us.”

It’s been a personal mission. Vettel knows he can’t change F1. He has been openly critical of its slow and piecemeal adoption of sustainable fuels. He was the first to call for a boycott of the Russian GP after the invasion of Ukraine, while the FIA and the commercial rights holder – perhaps understandably, given the reality of contracts and such – dithered. And he has undertaken one-man protests against oppressive practices in countries F1 visits, hosting an all-women karting event in Saudi Arabia and wearing a rainbow ‘One Love’ t-shirt on the grid in Hungary, on the eve of that nation implementing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Those close to him have suggested an unwillingness to return to these nations and others, such as Qatar, was a contributing factor to his decision to retire, as was the arrival of Aramco – the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases – as co-title sponsor of Aston Martin.

Vettel readily adopted social justice causes with Aston Martin, prominently at the 2021 Hungarian GP

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

What Vettel set out to do was to use his profile to push for change in the wider world. But why wait until the tapering point of his on-track career? There were several reasons. Among these were his realisation, once he had received notice of termination from Ferrari in 2020, that his driving ambition to emulate his childhood hero, Michael Schumacher, was now unachievable.

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Another is that he has been very much his own man since unhitching himself from Red Bull, with a confidence befitting one who has won four consecutive world championships. He has also become a father.

As Vettel has now explained, via a valedictory video posted on Instagram following his final grand prix, his perspective on life pivoted when, in short order, he and his wife had two daughters – and then his father-in-law succumbed to cancer. Until then he had been very much a young driver in the F1 bubble, focusing on winning races above all else.

The work went on long after the cameras stopped rolling: Vettel laboured for several hours, even riding the bin lorry back to the depot to help sort the recycling

“I was confronted with the future,” he said, “holding my children in my arms for the very first time, and at the same time being confronted with death, the end of life. It really made me reflect upon my life and the future that is ahead of us, and the world we live in.

“Mine was a unique position to be in and, once I realised that, I really thought about how I could use the voice I have to try to address the things that are important for all of us. Looking at our world, our climate, I think our world is rapidly changing and it requires us to all consider what we can do.”

Moving to Aston Martin not only facilitated a less high-pressure environment on track, where Vettel was less likely to be blown off by his team-mate, it also consolidated his ability to call the shots PR-wise. Media work has long been his least favourite aspect of the job. He seldom grants interviews to the F1 press and has eschewed social media until very recently. This has made him an asset of diminishing value to teams and sponsors in the modern marketing landscape.

Accordingly the Aston comms team found avenues through which Vettel could perform media work in a different way, energised by causes he wished to champion rather than sitting glumly in F1 media pens answering broadly the same questions eight times in a row.

Vettel became an ambassador for BioBienanApfel, a German-based campaign to preserve bee populations

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

By dint of no longer representing Philip Morris tobacco products, or an energy drink likely to be banned from sale to children in several countries on account of its sugar content, Vettel could make more personal appearances in schools.

Among several initiatives he became an ambassador for BioBienanApfel, a German-based campaign to preserve bee populations. During the Austrian double-header in 2021 he promoted a competition for local primary school pupils to design a bee hotel, picked the winning entry – and helped the winners build it. Last May he visited Feltham Young Offenders institution to open a workshop as part of a programme to facilitate careers in mechanics and engineering.

Following the 2021 British Grand Prix Sebastian organised a litter-picking session. It was, he said, inspired by driving to the Aston Martin factory and being struck by the dispiriting volume of filth and by the side of the motorways, a marked contrast to the environment in his adopted home of Switzerland.

This being the post-truth era, naturally there were those who declaimed this as a virtue-signalling photo opportunity, but the work went on long after the cameras stopped rolling: Vettel laboured for several hours, even riding the bin lorry back to the depot to help sort the recycling. It was the same Sebastian Vettel who would roll up his sleeves and help his Red Bull mechanics pack down the garage so they could get on to celebrating a world championship faster.

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Similarly impressive was Vettel’s appearance on the BBC’s Question Time. Brit-centric matters of moment such as the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition being papped while sipping a bottle of beer after a constituency meeting, and whether this constituted a ‘social gathering’ under Covid lockdown rules, must have seemed hopelessly abstruse and recherché to a Swiss-domiciled German.

Nevertheless he demonstrated an impressive command of domestic and international matters, as well as a thoughtful eloquence which seemed to prompt host Fiona Bruce to pivot towards him rather than the bickering low-wattage politicos seated to her right. He found himself in pole position to field a question on whether Finland should join NATO in response to aggression from Vladimir Putin’s Russia; most F1 drivers, with the possible exception of Valtteri Bottas, would struggle to point out Finland on a map let alone hold forth on the length of its land border with Russia and history of previous conflict.

Vettel appeared on BBC's Question Time last year, where he was astute on matters that would be beyond many non-UK racing drivers

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

It was here, also, he faced a germane question: did appearing in a “gas-guzzling” sport while campaigning against climate change make him a hypocrite? He could at this point have highlighted that he no longer flies to grands prix unless he has to, and certainly not by private jet; he could have explained that his daily driver isn’t an Aston Martin but a one-litre hybrid Skoda Octavia Estate; he could have flagged up his admiration for Greta Thunberg and Luisa Neubauer, head of Germany’s Fridays for Future organisation. Instead he said, “It does.”

While other drivers may be less engaged, or vocal, in social matters, he doesn’t leave a void: the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Alex Albon are, as Vettel said, standing up for things that are important to them

In hindsight it’s little wonder Vettel announced his retirement a little over two months later, quietly enjoyed his last few grands prix, and then headed for the door. While other drivers may be less engaged, or vocal, in social matters, he doesn’t leave a void: the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Alex Albon are, as Vettel said, standing up for things that are important to them.

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In a final interview published on the Aston Martin website he said, poignantly, “There will probably come a point where no one will remember me.” They will, Seb. They will.

Vettel attended Feltham Young Offenders prison in 2022

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images