Former Arrows and Brabham driver Marc Surer has claimed that Sebastian Vettel does not have the right ‘mental attitude’ to return to the sport despite recent speculation linking him to a sensational backtrack on his F1 retirement.
Vettel made the decision to call time on his F1 career at the end of the 2022 season after spending two seasons battling in the lower midfield with Aston Maritn, culminating in an emotional farewell in Abu Dhabi.
The four-time world champion has since switched his attention to raising awareness about climate change and pursuing an environmentally sustainable future for motor racing by promoting his ‘Race Without Trace’ and ‘Save the Bees’ campaigns.
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Speaking to Motorsport-Total about Vettel’s F1 future, Surer said: “His mental attitude with his environmental activities does not fit in. So he would have to have a good reason. The hypercars are already a step ahead of Formula 1 now, so he could probably get his act together and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve got a good excuse there’.”
While Surer questioned his motivation, he didn’t doubt that Vettel still has the speed to compete at the front end of the F1 grid. “You don’t lose that easily,” he continued. “He would be able to do that again. Alonso proved that by coming back and being super-fast again.
“There’s the difference between [Vettel and] an Alonso who, when he comes home, goes to his kart track in Oviedo and goes karting. He goes karting every week, the guy is always on the limit. And Vettel is building beehives. I don’t know. I can’t imagine he would still have the motivation.”
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Surer did, however, predict a return to racing, touting the World Endurance Championship as an option before explaining: “I think the ceiling will fall on his head. Because when you’ve been doing top-class sport for so many years and suddenly you’re not doing anything anymore, you’re missing something.”
While Vettel himself refused to rule out a return to the F1 grid in the future, it is unclear where the legendary German would even fit into the current driver market picture. A move to one of the sport’s ‘big three’ seems out of the question, and McLaren have a youthful and settled driver line-up, leaving him with limited options.
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