How Vettel's F1 career could have been VERY different

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed Sebastian Vettel's F1 career could have been very different had he signed the German back in the mid-2000s.

Vettel made his debut by deputising for Robert Kubica in 2007 after the then-BMW Sauber driver's horrific crash at the Canadian Grand Prix.

After scoring points at Indianapolis, Red Bull placed Vettel at Toro Rosso to replace American Scott Speed and he would go on to impress - not least by securing a remarkable victory at the Italian Grand Prix in 2008.

A step up to Red Bull would bring four championships between 2010 and 2013 to establish his legacy, before stints at Ferrari and Aston Martin before announcing his retirement at the end of the current season.

But revealing a story about Vettel whilst acting in a management position at Honda, Szafnauer suggested the career path could have been far removed from the eventual success story.

"I have known him since he was 18 or 19 years old," explained Szafnauer.

"I was at Honda Racing and we had just had [sporting director] Gil de Ferran.

"Seb came up to me and said 'I have got a two-week window...' and he was a young... I forgot how old he was, 'I have a two-week window where I am out of contract with both Red Bull and BMW, so are you interested in signing me?'

"He was an unknown quantity then but I was like 'yeah, this kid is good'.

"So I went to Gil and I said 'we have a two-week window to sign Seb Vettel' and he was like 'don't worry, I have got my eye on him'.

'What do you mean you have got your eye on him? We have got two weeks!'

"Anyway, we didn't sign him."

Additional reporting by Ian Parkes

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 champion Lando Norris DEMOTED to pit-lane start at Chinese Grand Prix

• 10 minutes ago

F1 2026 Chinese Grand Prix starting grid with LATE penalties applied

• 12 minutes ago

F1 Standings 2026: Lewis Hamilton is back as Verstappen melts down

• 58 minutes ago

F1 officially cancels two races as international conflict rages on

• 1 hour ago

F1 2026 Chinese Grand Prix weather forecast - latest from Shanghai

• 1 hour ago

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton lets Mercedes secret slip as Toto Wolff celebrates third driver

• Today 00:30