Sebastian Vettel says talks about a role at Red Bull ‘never gained any traction’, though the four-time world champion remains open to returning to Formula 1 if the right opportunity appears.
Since retiring at the end of 2022 after four world titles, 53 wins and 299 Grands Prix, the 38-year-old has focused on advocacy work, especially environmental causes. While promoting the F1REST project at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Vettel spoke to Sky Sports F1 at Interlagos and responded to the sudden July exit of Red Bull’s former team principal, Christian Horner.
‘I was surprised,’ Vettel said of Horner’s departure. ‘Christian has been there for so long, since the very beginning, and knows this team inside out. I think for this year everything was in place.’ He said he has worked with and respects Horner’s successor Laurent Mekies, but added that Horner ‘left some big footsteps’ given his central role in the team’s success.
Vettel acknowledged he is not fully familiar with Red Bull’s organisation, structure or long-term plans and suggested it’s sensible to ‘wait and see how it turns out.’ When asked if he could be part of that future, he confirmed brief conversations with adviser Helmut Marko — ‘a little bit’ — but said those discussions ‘never got anywhere, never gained any traction.’
Enjoying life after retirement, Vettel emphasised he still loves F1 and follows it closely. ‘I’m fairly happy where I am in life right now,’ he said, while leaving the door open: ‘If the right opportunity, position, perspective, whatever, turns up, maybe there’s a role that I could be happy to step up to. Time will tell.’