From Karting to Question Time: Sebastian Vettel
The true story of F1 legend Sebastian Vettel
On 28th July 2022, Sebastian Vettel sent the motorsport world into overdrive by creating an Instagram account and promptly announcing his retirement from Formula 1.
A dominant force in the early 2010s, Vettel has evolved from a ruthless on-track champion- boasting 53 wins and four world titles- to a progressive and outspoken ambassador of it.
In this article, we will take a look at the fascinating trajectory of his career, and ponder what might be next for the multi-faceted German.
Early Years
Vettel was born in Heppenheim, a small town between Frankfurt and Stuttgart. As with so many F1 greats, he began karting at the early age of three- a passion sparked by his father’s interest in motorsport.
By age 8, he was taking part and winning races competitively. Coming from a relatively modest background, his career would have been blunted by financial constraints were it not for the Red Bull Junior programme.
This programme recognised his potential at age 11.
Vettel was given the crucial financial backing that any driver needs to make it through the junior ranks in their teenage years.
Vettel repaid this faith by dominating the German Formula BMW championship aged 17, winning 18 of 20 races and earning the chance to test a Williams Formula 1 car.
His obvious talent secured him a role with the BMW Formula 1 team as a test driver in 2006, aged just 18.
Young Pretender
Vettel’s first opportunity in F1 came at the US Grand Prix in June 2007, which BMW driver Robert Kubica was forced to sit out of following an almighty shunt at the previous race in Canada.
Vettel qualified 7th, only two tenths off regular driver Nick Heidfeld, and despite running wide at the start of the race, clawed his way back to 8th.
Aged 19 years and 349 days, Vettel became the youngest points scorer in F1 history.
Kubica was back for the following race, but Vettel had shown he was ready for F1 despite his tender age.
With Kubica and Heidfeld contracted and delivering for BMW, there was no space for a 2008 race seat, but he had maintained his links with the Red Bull programme- who now owned 2 F1 teams.
Vettel was released by BMW a month after his debut at the US, and not long after he was announced as a driver for Toro Rosso (Red Bull’s second team) from the 2007 Hungarian Grand prix.
In the remainder of 2007- and in an uncompetitive car that had yet to score any points- Vettel relied on wet races to show his true prowess, managing 4th in changeable conditions at China.
This was enough to move the team from 10th to 7th in the Constructors Championship.
The year 2008 started badly for Vettel, retiring from the first four races of the season.
However, from then on he delivered drives of increasing maturity, including 5th place at Monaco, and five further points finished in the following eight races.
Monza 2008 was the race that truly showed Vettel’s destiny towards greatness.
Wet conditions were ever-present during the race weekend.
Vettel stunned the motorsport fraternity by qualifying on pole on Saturday, and then sauntered to a first race victory, winning by twelve seconds and becoming F1’s youngest ever race winner.
Only Ayrton Senna’s 2nd place in an uncompetitive Toleman at Monaco 1984 even comes close to such an astounding feat by a young driver in their rookie season.
Charging Bull
Vettel’s performances across 2008 meant that Toro Rosso finished above their vastly better-funded senior team, Red Bull.
With David Coulthard retiring at the end of the season, Vettel was promoted to the ‘big team’ as his replacement.
The move couldn’t have been timed better- with the team highly focused on the new regulation changes for 2009 and under the guise of design maestro Adrian Newey, Red Bull produced a car that was a front runner for the very first time.
Vettel established himself quickly at Red Bull, winning third time out at China and taking three further wins across the season, finishing runner-up to Jenson Button in the championship.
Greatness was only just around the corner…
All-Conquering Champion
The 2010s signalled one of the most dominant periods in F1 history; the combination of a slick Red Bull team, Adrian Newey designed cars and the brilliance of Vettel were unmatchable.
His and Red Bull’s first championship in 2010 was the hardest fought, with Vettel snatching the championship away from teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at the very last race in Abu Dhabi, whilst 2012 was a nail-biting finish where Vettel held on from Alonso to win by just 3 points.
2011 and 2013, on the other hand, emulated Vettel’s utter domination of the German Formula BMW days. In 2011, he finished on the podium in 17 of 19 races, winning 11.
In 2013, Vettel was even stronger, winning 13 of 19 races in 2013, including 9 consecutive wins at the end of the season- a feat no other driver has achieved.
Whilst the car was clearly the fastest on the grid, he still blew teammate Webber out of the water- Webber won no races that year.
Inspired by childhood hero and fellow German Michael Schumacher, Vettel was a ruthless operator in his heyday.
He has always striven for every hundredth of a second- his debriefs are known to take hours whilst he pores over every minute detail- but his willingness to take matters into his own hands created some of the most controversial moments of the decade.
Whilst running second to Webber in Malaysia in 2013 and comfortably ahead of the chasing pack, both drivers were instructed to reserve the engine and were issued the now infamous ‘Multi-21’ order; in other words, to hold position.
Vettel and Webber’s relationship had somewhat soured by this point- the culmination of a number of issues, including a crash between the two back in 2010- and so Vettel opted to ignore the team order, keeping his engine on a higher power mode, battling with Webber and eventually taking the win.
Faltering (prancing) Horse
As 2014 dawned, the question was not whether Vettel would became a five time champion, or even when that would happen- it was whether he’d be able to surpass Schumacher’s 7 world titles and become the most successful driver in F1 history.
A new set of regulations, however, stumped Red Bull’s competitiveness and saw the emergence of a new dominant force in Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
Vettel failed to win a race across a full season for the first time in his career and was outpaced by new teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who managed 3 wins.
His pride damaged, and with little left to achieve at Red Bull, Vettel opted for a new challenge in 2015 and, attracted by the prospect of emulating Schumacher, joined Ferrari.
Victory second time out in Malaysia showed promise, but Mercedes were too quick across both 2015 and 2016.
The Ferrari challenge roared into action in 2017, with Vettel leading the championship for the first 12 races, but a number of incidents- some caused by Vettel himself, such as a start line crash in Singapore- meant that they slipped back when it mattered.
Hamilton swooped in for his fifth world championship, moving him above Vettel on the all-time list.
2018 saw more of the same, with Vettel’s challenge to Hamilton faltering despite taking 5 wins.
The German Grand Prix summed up the season in a nutshell; Vettel was leading comfortably in the rain before sliding off and into retirement with 15 laps to go, handing Hamilton the win, 25 points and the championship lead with it.
Without such frequent errors, Vettel could well have been a 5 time world champion at this stage.
Perhaps Ferrari’s confidence had already waned in Vettel by 2019, when they signed the promising Charles Leclerc to drive alongside him.
Up to this point, Vettel had enjoyed unchallenged number 1 driver status at the team, but Leclerc’s immediate speed forced Ferrari to re-evaluate.
As Hamilton dominated to take a 6th world championship, Vettel only managed a single win during the season- what may turn out to be his final win- and he was evidently slower than Leclerc, finishing behind his teammate.
More unforced errors saw another win in Canada slip away, leading many to speculate that Vettel was far past his prime.
A New Challenge
As the pandemic delayed the start of the 2020 season, the driver market flew into action. Ferrari decided that Leclerc was their best bet for the future and that Vettel wouldn’t settle for number 2 status, and informed him that his contract would not be renewed beyond the season.
As the 2020 season finally progressed, the Ferrari was hugely uncompetitive and Vettel had another error-strewn season, with Leclerc scoring almost three times as many points.
Vettel was snapped up by Aston Martin for 2021 on a two-year deal. Expectations were high for both team and driver, with an injection of cash and vast infrastructure project planned to push the team to the front of the grid.
2021 proved another disappointing year as the Aston Martin lost ground on the teams around it.
Vettel managed an impressive podium in Azerbaijan and a number of other strong performances, but the real focus was on the new regulation changes in 2022.
Sadly for Vettel, Aston Martin have remained at the lower end of the pecking order this year and, with no short-term route to success, Vettel has lost faith in the Aston Martin project and opted to move on from F1 at the end of the season rather than battling in the midfield.
New Priorities
Vettel’s motivation to retire is undoubtedly based on more than the competitive order. Over recent years he has become increasingly vocal around societal issues and the role that F1 plays in them.
He’s worn a rainbow helmet and organised woman-only karting events to highlight LGBTQIA+ rights and promote female participation in motorsport; he’s helped to collect rubbish in the grandstands after the British Grand Prix.
He has also been outspoken on the sport’s decision to race in countries that have highly questionable records on civil rights.
In May 2022, Vettel appeared as part of the panel on BBC Question Time.
The inevitable questions of why a German F1 driver should have anything to do with British politics were soon hushed, with Vettel providing measured answers on Brexit, climate change and the war in Ukraine.
Labelling himself a ‘hypocrite’ in regards to championing sustainability whilst racing in a carbon-emitting motorsport that travels around the globe provided a true breath of fresh air amongst combative politicians who refuse to take responsibility for their actions.
Future and Legacy
His career may have taken a nosedive since the dizzy heights of his Red Bull title years, but his final years of driving will only act as a coda to his earlier success.
Vettel is well and truly established as one of F1’s all-time greats. Only Hamilton, Fangio and Schumacher have more championships to their name.
As F1’s fanbase has exploded over the last 5 years through the emergence of Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’, Vettel’s popularity has grown exponentially too.
Although he’s made it clear that his family are his priority once he retires from F1, there’s no doubt that this won’t be the last significant impact that Vettel makes on the world of motorsport- and far beyond!
