Sebastian Vettel says he has had talks with Red Bull after leaving Ferrari but it never went to the serious mode, and he is not certain of non-driving role at the moment with them.
When Vettel departed from Ferrari and before signing up with Aston Martin, the German held brief talks with Christian Horner and Helmut Marko related to the topic of returning to Red Bull. But he insists that the talks were never serious enough to sign a deal.
Since he has good relations with Horner and Marko, Vettel had a chat but eventually decided to sign up with Aston Martin. Also, Vettel made the choice before Red Bull decided to drop Alexander Albon from their team, who then signed up Sergio Perez whom the German replaced.
While he admits that he expected them to be more competitive this year, but he has no regrets of choosing them in 2021. “I think it was 2020,” said Vettel. “But yeah, I mean, obviously I made the decision to join Aston Martin before I think it was really in discussion that Alex is going to leave. So it was never really close.
“But of course, I know, Christian, I know Helmut. So for sure. I had a, you know, sort of brief chat with them, but never really anything serious. And I also know and knew that if it was, would have been an option or series, we would have at least talked about it. But it never came to that point. So obviously, a couple of months later, you could look back and say if, and what if, and so on. But I’m happy with the choice I made.
“And obviously, you know, expected that we will be more competitive last year and this year, but we were not. And I’m very happy with the way the team has progressed and [how] we are working together. So obviously it’s not the dream sort of coming true, racing in the positions we are racing, but you know, it’s been a challenge and I think I’ve accepted it and tried to make the most of it,” summed up Vettel.
With his deal coming to an end, he eventually decided not to renew and retire instead with Fernando Alonso taking his place instead. As for Vettel, he is still to decide what he will do beyond his F1 career and when asked of a non-driving role at Red Bull, he was clear of no decision on that front.
“I don’t know at the moment, I’m not considering anything, because, you know, I’m stepping away,” said Vettel. “So, time will tell what will be something that is possible to do, if there is an offer of any such nature or not, and then I will I will see how I feel like, you know, at the moment. I’m quite happy to spend more time on other things and look forward to seeing the kids more and stuff like that. And then time will tell whether I get bored within three months or three years. I don’t know. So we will see.”
Here’s Dan Fallows on joining Aston Martin and more
Here’s Sebastian Vettel visiting a hospital
Here’s Aston Martin on sidepod designs