F1 champion Sebastian Vettel opens up on failed Red Bull return talks

Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez look at one another — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel opens up on failed Red Bull return talks

Sebastian Vettel won four world championships with Red Bull

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Thursday 13 November 2025 23:03

Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel has opened up on talks about a potential return to Red Bull.

The German won all four of his titles with the energy drink giant, but left for Ferrari in 2015 and has been linked with a return for most of the ten years since.

The German then retired from F1 in 2022, and has spent the last few years raising awareness of key environmental issues, and working on a number of charitable projects.

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At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Vettel was back in the F1 paddock, as part of the 'Forest - Drawn Together' campaign, which seeks to raise awareness of the devastating deforestation taking place in Brazil's Amazon Rainforest.

Vettel has also been doing lots of work with female racers, trying to give youngsters an opportunity to compete in single-seater racing, and provide them with a path to F1 Academy and beyond.

Vettel has now revealed that he and Marko did hold initial talks, but that nothing has materialised in terms of a way back into the Red Bull team for the German legend.

"There was a lot of talk about it and so on, and I did speak with Helmut a little bit, but it never got anywhere, never gained any traction," Vettel told Sky Sports F1.

"I think for me I'm fairly happy where I am in life right now, I love Formula 1. In the beginning I thought I'm not sure if I want to keep watching because I need to get a distance and so on. But, I watch the races and I follow and I love it because I just love the sport and I know the guys as well.

"So I'm still close in that way and if the right opportunity, position, perspective turns up, maybe there's a role that I would be happy to step up to but time will tell."

Vettel's legendary career

Vettel remains one of five drivers to have won four or more drivers' titles consecutively, and he and current Red Bull driver Max Verstappen are the two most successful racers to have driven for Red Bull.

However, Verstappen did overtake Vettel at the end of 2023 for the number of grand prix victories in his career, although Vettel still remains in fourth on that all-time list.

While the move to Ferrari didn't yield any more titles for the German, Vettel did manage to claim 14 grands prix victories with the iconic outfit, and was involved in championship battles in both 2017 and 2018 against Lewis Hamilton.

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