"I Won't Dismiss the Possibility" - Vettel Doesn't Rule Out a Return to F1 After Retiring in 2022
Sebastian Vettel has acknowledged the possibility of reversing his recent decision to retire and returning to the F1 grid in the future, stating that he "can't rule out" the idea.
The four-time world champion and 53-time Grand Prix winner announced the conclusion of his career at the end of the 2022 season after a two-year stint with Aston Martin.
At 36 years old, he is considerably younger than the oldest driver currently in F1, 42-year-old Fernando Alonso. Additionally, Lewis Hamilton recently confirmed that he will continue racing into his 40s after signing a new contract.
When questioned in an interview with Sky Sports about the prospect of following in the footsteps of F1 returnees like Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Nigel Mansell, Kimi Raikkonen, and Alonso, Vettel remarked, "I can't say no, because you don't know. I think it's something that if you asked all of them, probably some of them would have said, 'No,' and some of them, 'I don't know,' but in the end all of them came back, so I can't exclude it."
He continued, "It probably will depend much on when, and obviously it's not endless, because at 36 it's not like, 'Yeah, in 10 years' time, maybe I think about it,' then time has passed. It will depend on the challenge, whatever, but it's not in my head right now. I'm enjoying the sort of outlook of the challenge of what to do next."
When pressed on whether he has been maintaining his fitness since stepping away from F1, Vettel explained, "Yeah, but because I want to, not because I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm going to come back,' or if somebody falls out I'm going to [replace them], not because of that." He added, "I guess my neck [strength] is not up to speed, no, it can't be, but everything else is pretty good, I would say."
Vettel made these remarks during his return to an F1 cockpit at the Red Bull Formula Nurburgring event over the weekend, where he drove his championship-winning RB7 from 2011 around the iconic Nordschleife circuit.
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