Sebastian Vettel: Children don’t want Formula 1 comeback

Sebastian Vettel (37) announced his resignation from Formula 1 at the end of the season. How is the former racing driver doing after his farewell? In conversation with Peter Hardenacke, the repeated world champion talks about his current life and why his children are against his return to Formula 1.

When asked how he can cope without the structure and rhythm of the Formula 1 everyday life, Vettel replied: “I would say quite well. Family peace is still annoying. I am still not annoying and I’m desired (laughs).” His children would also have said that he could no longer run, “because it’s so nice that I am there. Of course it’s great when you hear something like that.”

After a career end, a lot is very different from what you expect before, and a big challenge. “The question of who am I, or what drives me now and what comes next. These are big questions that you don’t always have an answer to. But I learned a lot about myself in time and I am very satisfied.” He is not boring and he has something to do, says Vettel, who supports women in motorsport in Saudi Arabia with the “Race4women” karting event, for example. In addition to his projects and everyday family life, he takes care of homework and his training in the field of agriculture, which he will “hopefully complete”.

Formula 1 still remains connected. “Of course I watch and follow how the boys are doing. I am still in contact here and there. It is a large part of me and it will remain.” Especially his son, who was still too small at his career, is now interested in his Formula 1 story and wants to see excerpts from his races.

If not as a driver, Vettel could imagine a different role in Formula 1: “I still pursue sport with great interest and now also with enough distance. I don’t know what it might be in the future. In a way, the drivers are in a way left, no matter what role, is something that I can imagine.”

With his wife Hanna, Vettel has three children. His daughters were born in 2014 and 2015, followed by a son in 2019. He has been living with his family in his adopted home in Switzerland for a long time.