Former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel spoke about his future in Formula 1 after months of rumors about a potential return.
Vettel was rumored to take on a role within the energy-drink racing team as an advisor or potentially team principal following the dismissal of Christian Horner.
Since retiring after the 2022 season, the German has been out of the spotlight, working behind the scenes to create progress in causes such as women in motorsport and environmental challenges.
A couple of months ago, there were links between Vettel and a potential role at Red Bull as an advisor.
Helmut Marko, the team’s current senior advisor, brought Vettel into Red Bull, and there were reports that indicate the retired driver could step into that role.
Vettel spoke with German news outlet Auto Motor und Sport and clarified what his future holds.
“Formula 1 is finished,” Vettel said during the interview.
“At some point, the time will be ripe to leave the field to others. You can see that with the rookies. I think it’s good that a whole bunch of them have now been replaced.
“It’s not a vote against the old guys, but in favour of the young ones. In the past, I wasn’t interested in which of the established riders no longer raced. The main thing was that I was allowed to drive.”
Vettel didn’t address a potential executive role, leaving the door open to a return as a decision maker.
While he may not race an F1 car ever again, he did express interest in the World Endurance Championship.
“I don’t want to rule out that something will come of it,” Vettel added.
“There have been talks, but somehow it hasn’t worked out yet. In the past, I honestly wasn’t that interested in endurance racing from my perspective as a lone competitor. Today I see it differently.
“I find it totally exciting, this team structure, sharing a car, making compromises. In motorsport, it’s hard to say: I only drive half the races.
“The WEC would actually be a good fit with its eight races, which are also staggered differently to Formula 1. It’s always a question of how intensively you want to do something. For me, it’s always been the case that I want to do it properly when I get involved in something. Just going along for the ride is not for me.”
With so much uncertainty around Red Bull, Vettel could end up with a significant role in the organization, but he seems focused on other projects for the time being.
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