Vettel hints at career plans after F1

Sebastian Vettel has admitted to thinking about what lies for him in his career after he retires from Formula 1, and reckons it could provide an opportunity to race in other motorsport disciplines.

The German is a four-time F1 world champion, but since his move to Ferrari he has had to witness Mercedes dominate, with his last title coming seven years ago.

Last season, he suffered the ignominy of being bettered in the 2019 rankings by rookie Ferrari team-mate, Charles Leclerc, who was participating in just his second ever season.

With his contract running out at the end of 2020, and no official announcements that it will be extended as of yet, questions have been raised about his future plans.

For him, even though the timing hasn’t been decided, he has already started to think about what comes after F1.

"If I'm realistic, I'm not going to be here in ten years," Vettel told Motorsport.com.

"So I think this is something you naturally start to think about.”

"I think I'm in a very fortunate position that I can probably try and do a lot of things, once I have decided to stop racing in F1. Maybe race something else, maybe do something different in motorsport or do something completely different outside.

"I have some ideas, but I haven't decided. I'm quite relaxed."

Vettel does confess that money will be a factor in any ongoing negotiations with Ferrari as F1 drivers have shorter careers than most, while putting themselves in significant danger, but says the most important thing in his career is simply happiness.

"It depends what's important to you, what drives you," he said of why he would remain in the sport.

"And that's fair. If money is your motivator then it can drive you very far and make you very successful.

"There's a lot of sportsmen, businessmen that thrive for money. I think the question really is whether people have a sense of enough. That's not just valid for Formula 1.

"We are putting our life in a way also on the line, then you need to show some appreciation for that. Our careers also are shorter than some other careers.

"I think the really important thing is that you are happy, that’s the key.

"Obviously, F1 is a bit of a circus and spoiled circus. Because they have a lot of money involved and money tends to spoil people.

"I think on average that's true. But the question is, like I said, if you have a sense of enough."

At the moment, due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are no guarantees that Vettel will actually be able to race in 2020 before his current contract expires.

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