BREAKING NEWS :Sebastian Vettel backs himself for Formula 1 comeback after 2025 rejections

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel bowed out of the sport in 2022 after spells with BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and finally Aston Martin.

Vettel ended up leaving the sport with one of the best records of any driver in Formula 1 history, winning 53 races in his 299 Grand Prix starts.

 

The Inside Line | Episode 587 | SF 01

Only Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen have surpassed his winning tally, and he went wheel-to-wheel with each of them throughout his career.

Vettel and Hamilton didn’t always see eye-to-eye as they spent the majority of their careers battling against each other to win the driver’s championship.

However, they ultimately ended up having a lot of mutual respect for each other, and Hamilton asked for Vettel’s advice before his move to Ferrari as a result.

Last season saw a lot of upheaval in the driver’s market and as a result six rookies – if you include Liam Lawson at Red Bull – will be on the grid at this year’s Australian Grand Prix.

A report from the German outlet F1 Insider has shared more details about Vettel’s attempts to make an unexpected return to the paddock and how he feels about a comeback now he’s been out of the sport for more than two years.

Sebastian Vettel backs himself for Formula 1 comeback after 2025 rejections

The report from F1 Insider explains that Vettel doesn’t feel that he’s ‘completely finished’ with his Formula 1 career.

He has told his ‘confidants’ that he still feels fit enough to race, and has used Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as examples of active drivers who are still at their peak at a similar age to the German.

It’s said that Vettel is going to continue to look for a comeback opportunity even if he didn’t make any waves in the 2024 driver’s market.

The report suggests that Vettel’s F1 exit in 2022 ‘was not entirely voluntary’ with Aston Martin unwilling to offer him a new deal and other teams in the paddock reluctant to bring him in.

Vettel offered to drive for Audi ahead of this season, however, they preferred to pursue Carlos Sainz and eventually ended up bringing in Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto.

READ MORE: Who is Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko? Everything to know

Vettel’s talks with Red Bull also ‘failed’ and chief advisor Helmut Marko told F1 Insider: “Sebastian would have liked to drive alongside Max Verstappen for us.

“I couldn’t and didn’t want to allow that.”

Instead, Red Bull decided to go with Liam Lawson, who has competed in 288 fewer Grand Prix than Vettel but very much has his whole career ahead of him, rather than potentially entering his twilight years.

David Coulthard has told Sebastian Vettel to avoid Formula 1 return

Vettel’s performances did start to decline before he eventually walked away from Formula 1 in 2022.

His final season at Ferrari in 2020 saw teammate Charles Leclerc outscore him for the second season in succession and the Monegasque driver has gone on to get even better since then.

The German finished 13th, 12th and 12th in his last three campaigns and was regularly pushed by Lance Stroll during his time at Aston Martin.

READ MORE: Bernie Collins had one ‘big worry’ about Sebastian Vettel when he joined Aston Martin

David Coulthard said Vettel would be delusional to try and return to Formula 1 at this stage of his career.

That doesn’t mean that Vettel won’t still pop up in the paddock if he doesn’t find another seat on the grid.

He was instrumental in the tributes paid to Ayrton Senna at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in 2024 and will always be welcome at Red Bull and Ferrari given his success in F1.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls took the covers off their new car for the 2025 season at F1 75 Live at The O2 in London, but fans were fast to spot one thing with their new look.

The new season marks another slightly new dawn for the Faenza outfit after Red Bull GmbH, once again, changed the team’s name for the latest term. They were known as Toro Rosso in 2006 until 2019, then AlphaTauri from 2020 to 2023 and also Visa Cash App RB over 2024.Yet after admitting their name disguised the team’s identity and also raised lots of questions about what RB actually stood for, a tweak for the 2025 Formula 1 season sees them become Visa Cash App Racing Bulls whilst rookie Isack Hadjar also joins Yuki Tsunoda in their line-up.