“It only remains for him to apologise” Automobile Club Milano hits out at Sebastian Vettel’s comments on the Italian President
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Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is well-known for his environmental activism and is rather outspoken. Recently, there was another example. Formula 1 has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, but prior to the Italian Grand Prix, there was an aircraft flypast over the circuit, which did not go down well with the German driver.
Vettel will retire at the end of the season, but that hasn’t dimmed his stance on the sport’s environmental impact one bit. For the flypast, he had a few choice words to say, as per La Gazzetta dello Sport: “I heard that the President of Italy insisted on having the flyby. He is about 100 years old so maybe it’s hard for him to let go of this kind of ego-related thing.” Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, is 81.
He added: “We were promised that the flyovers would be over, but it seems that the President has changed his mind and F1 has given up despite the scoreboards around the track on certain objectives related to making the world a better place.” This attracted criticism from Geronima La Russa, president of Automobile Club Milano, who demands an apology from Vettel for insulting the President.
Sebastian Vettel called out for ‘useless controversy’
Sebastian Vettel’s comments did not go down well in Italy. Vettel does have a connection with the nation: He won his first Grand Prix in Monza, and drove 6 seasons for Ferrari. This was his last Italian Grand Prix, which he unfortunately did not finish. Geronima La Russa has hit out at Vettel for speaking in the manner that he did, especially as a ‘guest’ of Italy.
La Russa revealed that the airplanes flew with 25% biofuel: “It is a controversy that offends the President of the republic and all of us. We thank Mattarella for coming here to celebrate the centenary of the racetrack – the aircraft flew, for the first time, with a 25% dose of biofuel, an important experiment also for civil aviation.”
La Russa was critical of Vettel of commenting on the President: “I have always been taught the President of the republic should be listened to and not commented on, especially if you are a guest of a foreign country. The overflight of the Frecce Tricolori is an Italian pride. It is a pity a World Champion, who also won his first grand prix at Monza, has slipped over a controversy that is as useless as it is pretext.”
Geronima La Russa has asked Vettel to apologize to the President, as well as to all Italians. It remains to be seen if the German will acquiesce to this ‘request’.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)