F1: Vettel convincing himself to quit F1 after this year

On Thursday, Aston Martin F1 driver Sebastian Vettel driver appeared on the BBC television program Question Time, a topical debate show in Britain that features at least one member of parliament on its panel and questions from a studio audience.

Asked by host Fiona Bruce if it makes him a hypocrite for talking so much about energy while a driver in “one of the most gas-guzzling sports in the world”, and to laughter from the audience Vettel said: “It does, it does. And you’re right when you laugh.

F1’s #1 Tree-Hugger, Sebastian Vettel feels flying around the world to drive in F1 is not good for the environment. Well, the plane is going with or without him, so the pollution will be just the same if he stays home to tend to his garden.

“There are questions I ask myself every day. I’m not a saint. I’m very concerned when it comes to the future of these topics, energy, energy-dependence and where we go in the future.

“On energy, we need to stop being dependent, there are solutions in place. In Britain, you have this sort of goldmine you’re sitting on, which is wind, and you have the ability to increase your energy supply with wind power, solar.

“Every country has its strengths and weaknesses. If you go to Austria, they have the Alps, and they have water, they can pump it up, store it, and get it back down.

“Getting back to your point, it is true. It’s something that I’m asking myself.”

When asked if what Vettel is asking himself is questioning wherever he should be racing in F1, Vettel replied: “Yeah, and travelling the world.

“There’s certain things that are in my control, and certain things are not. It’s my passion to drive a car, I love it, every time I step in the car I love it.

“When I get out of the car, of course I’m thinking ‘is this something we should do?’, travelling the world, wasting resources.

“We are entertaining people, during COVID, we were one of the first ones to start again, when everybody’s heads were about to explode. There were Formula 1 races back on.

“I’m not saying Formula 1 has this huge position in the world to deliver entertainment. [But] if you talk about entertainment, sports, culture, comedy, a lot of people who couldn’t perform, and then a lot of people missed that.

“I think if we didn’t have that, in general, we’d probably go mad.

“But there’s a lot of these questions which I ask myself, there’s things that I do because I feel I can do better.

“Do I take the plane every time? No, [not] when I can take the car.

“But there’s certain things in my control and certain things outside my control.”