Sebastian Vettel reveals “only regret” of long and successful F1 career

Sebastian Vettel is considered as one of the all-time greats of Formula 1. Making his debut in 2006, the German driver deemed himself worthy of a seat at the front of the grid with a shock victory in Monza a year later. He went on to dominate the grid with Red Bull and won four titles in a row. Vettel would fail to replicate that success at his next two stints at Ferrari and Aston Martin, however, he became more outspoken about important issues.

In the latter stages of his career, Vettel began speaking out on important issues. The four-time world champion was the only driver alongside Lewis Hamilton to consistently advocate for LGBTQ+ rights across the world, including in countries where F1 raced at. This created controversy with FIA instructing drivers to not bring political messaging onto the grid. However, this did not stop Vettel or Hamilton. Additionally, the German driver started vouching for sustainable fuels in the past couple of years under the ‘There is Still a Race to Win.’

Looking back at his career, Sebastian Vettel acknowledged that he was only focused on being the fastest driver on the grid during his early years. He admitted that this was the only thing on his mind when he was looking to prove himself on the grid. Vettel confessed that the one thing he regrets about his career is that he didn’t start speaking on important topics sooner.

Sebastian Vettel adamant on more women in motorsport

The four-time world champion has advocated for more women in the racing world, not only in the garage but even in the cockpit. In 2021, Sebastian Vettel organized a karting race for women in Saudi Arabia, a country that legalized driving for women only in 2017. He has since continued his efforts in encouraging more female drivers in motorsport.

The German recalled the impact of the event. He admitted that it was not easy to predict the future impact from such initiatives. but it does play a role. Vettel claimed that he and his team tried to encourage women to not be afraid of entering the male-dominated racing world. Moreover, he pointed out that it was not easy for girls to be able to take such actions in a country that has historically remained very conservative.

Additionally, the former Ferrari driver revealed that he plans to revisit the place once again in the near future to check on the progress made by the participants since. Vettel further plans on giving women and girls a bigger platform to speak out when he makes his visit.

Certainly, Sebastian Vettel is one of the most focused motorsport professionals when it comes to encouraging more female representation. The German driver understands that it is high time to have equal representation as men. Formula 1 has taken steps in the past few years, including F1 Academy, that provides a special junior ladder to female drivers. However, this is not enough, there is still much more left to be done to have a woman on the F1 grid in the future.

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