Sebastian Vettel: Bond PR between contract negotiations and climate activism

German racing driver
Between Bond PR and climate activism: Sebastian Vettel is fighting for a new contract in Monza

A year ago, Sebastian Vettel screwed up his former employer, Ferrari, at the 1000th race of the Maranello brand in Formula 1, the home game in Italy. For Vettel it was above all another farewell race from the famous red racing car, with which he tried in vain for six years to get on the world championship course.

The future of the Heppenheimer was unclear for months until he announced on that September day in Mugello that he would be joining Aston Martin with returnees. Before Ferrari’s anniversary race, the headlines belonged to the German who had already been retired before the first race of the season. At the weekend the Italian Grand Prix is ​​back and Vettel’s future is completely open again.

Vettel’s future at Aston Martin remains open

But he’s not worried, said Vettel in Monza. He expects a clarification soon. Team boss Otmar Szafnauer had recently assured that it was “nothing complicated”.

Vettel is now 34 years old and belongs to the old generation of the motorsport premier class. 53 race victories are on his balance sheet. The last one was almost two years ago. He succeeded Vettel on September 22, 2019 in Singapore. He started on pole position for the last time to date on October 13, 2019 in Japan. He had made it 56 times before.

Vettel was world champion four times, but it was a long time ago: 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The prospect of title number 5 – under normal circumstances rather low. A generation that is ten or more years younger than Vettel and highly talented is pushing too hard.

PR campaign for new Bond film

As twelfth in the World Cup ranking before the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Vettel does not play a very important role in sporting terms. Where he sensationally celebrated his first Grand Prix success 13 years ago in the Toro Rosso and turned the Vettel finger from the podium into a famous gesture of jubilation, the fans’ eyes are directed more towards the PR train of his racing team because of the upcoming premiere of the new James Bond film on the car in classic green.

007 is emblazoned on the sides, 007 is emblazoned on the motorhome. Already at the introduction, when Vettel had hardly been able to take his eyes off his new company car, Bond actor Daniel Craig had greeted.

Sebastian Vettel is again committed to the climate

Vettel does not (yet) have the license to win. But hope. “I believe that the team’s future is very, very bright,” he said at the Royal Park. Vettel did not want to talk so extensively about what his near future sporting future will look like. “I’ve never talked much about contracts,” he said.

It’s correct. Vettel, who looked like a schoolboy on day trips for a long time with his rascal when he went through the paddock, also has other priorities that he likes to talk about a lot and often, including sustainability, climate and environmental protection. Vettel reads a lot on the topics, informs, questions and gets involved – even if some like to see it critically in view of his profession.

The three-time family man is far from self-PR. Between the races in Zandvoort and the Grand Prix in Italy, he traveled to Iceland on Wednesday to open a climate-positive facility. Carbon dioxide is drawn from the air there and then stored in the ground, Vettel described and he never got tired of reporting on the project. It is important not to lose any time, he emphasized, also with a view to a future that has nothing to do with a new contract with Aston Martin.

See in the video: In “James Bond: No Time to Die” Daniel Craig slips into the role of the eponymous secret agent for the last time. The action film is scheduled to start in German cinemas on September 30, 2021.

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DPA