Sebastian Vettel has said that he can’t completely rule out coming out of retirement and make a return to Formula 1 racing.
Sebastian Vettel feels physically prepared to make a return to Formula 1 and is not ruling out the possibility even if he is not currently pursuing a return.
The former Aston Martin driver and four-time World Champion made the decision to retire from racing at the end of the 2022 campaign.
Vettel made the move to Aston Martin for what turned out to be his final two Formula 1 seasons in 2020 after a very disappointing 2019 season with Ferrari.
However, speculations of a potential comeback remain prevalent, particularly since Vettel, who turned 36 in July, is still considerably younger than Fernando Alonso who is the oldest driver on the current Formula 1 grid.
Vettel has not hanged his racing boots altogether as he has been seen in action through demo runs and most recently the 2023 Race of Champions, driving his E-Fuel-powered Red Bull which won the 2011 championship, on the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle questioned Sebastian Vettel if he was considering following in the footsteps of other past Formula 1 world champions like Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, who made a return to the sport after a hiatus.
“I can’t say no, because that you don’t know,” Vettel said fueling more speculation of a possible Formula 1 comeback. “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.”
Aston Martin is currently having a successful year after a disappointing season in 2022 that probably persuaded Vettel to retire from the sport.
Although the 53-time Grand Prix winner is pleased for his former team and Alonso, he believes he would only consider a return to Formula One racing if it presented the “right” challenge. But for the time being, Vettel isn’t actively considering going back to his job.
He is also aware that, at 36, he does not have a lot of time on his side if he tries to make a comeback, despite the fact that drivers like Lewis Hamilton (38) and Fernando Alonso (42) have proven that age is just a number.
“It probably will depend much on when, and obviously it’s not endless, because 36 is not like, ‘yeah in 10 years’ time’,” Vettel said.
“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. 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.”
Whatever the future may hold, Vettel asserts that he would be prepared to act immediately if a Formula 1 seat is available as he has kept himself physically fit over the past year, but as a recreational option rather than as a prerequisite for racing.
“Yeah, but because I want to, not because I’m like, come back or if somebody falls out I’m going to (step in), not because of that,” he said. “But so I guess my neck is not up to speed. No, it can’t be, but everything else is pretty, pretty good, I would say.”
