F1 News: Sebastian Vettel returns to Red Bull and 'leaves surprise' for Max Verstappen

Sebastian Vettel celebrates after competing in the 2026 London Marathon — Photo: © IMAGO

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Sebastian Vettel returns to Red Bull and 'leaves surprise' for Max Verstappen

Vettel had a busy Sunday at Monza!

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Sunday 6 September 2026 14:13

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Max Verstappen may be Red Bull's current F1 four-time world champion but he certainly isn't the first to do it with the team.

Verstappen won his world championships between 2021 and 2024 but Sebastian Vettel won the team's first titles between 2010 and 2013.

The German then left the team at the end of the 2014 campaign and just over a season later, Verstappen arrived, winning on his debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

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Vettel back at Red Bull

Vettel never returned to Red Bull before retiring at the end of the 2022 season at Aston Martin, but he was back in the F1 paddock and the Red Bull garage this weekend for the Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull released a video of the 39-year-old casually walking through the team's garage where he was warmly welcomed by Red Bull staff.

But he left a present for Max Verstappen, signing the visor of his crash helmet.

Vettel wrote 'Have a good one mate!' as well as writing out the word 'sun' and adding a drawing of the sun in reference to the scorching temperatures at Monza.

The helmet also features the words 'light smoked blue' which appears to be a reference to the colour of Verstappen's visor, but it's not clear from the video if Vettel wrote those words.

Sebastian Vettel drove Michael Schumacher's F2002 Ferrari at Monza

Vettel's emotional Schumacher drive

Vettel has had a busy Sunday in Monza, even returning to the track in an F1 car. Sadly for some fans it wasn't as a driver for Sunday's grand prix, but he did the next best thing by returning in a Ferrari car before the race.

Having driver for Ferrari between 2015 and 2020, Vettel had the chance to drive Michael Schumacher's F2002 car that won him the 2002 world championship and his fifth title with a record six races left.

Speaking after the event, an emotional Vettel told Sky Sports: "Very mixed emotions. It was like a time travel because it felt like I was him for a few seconds in there, seeing what he saw.

"It's the car, the time, the era, the driver that I fell in love with, and I remember when I was a child, I grew up watching.

"And to be in that position today, and the circumstances, we you know we miss him, and we would have loved to see him drive his car.

"He felt very alive, and you know I really felt him, and I think we all did, and we heard him with with that sound, with that car here, that track, very very emotional."

Extra special ❤️

Watch Seb complete a full lap of Monza in Michael Schumacher's legendary F2002 car #F1 #ItalianGP @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/n1TWBhgYdM
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 6, 2026