The four-time F1 world champion has been gone for three years but hasn’t strayed too far from the sport and speculation has continued that he could make a return to action

Sebastian Vettel insists he’s not looking to return to racing in F1(Image: Icon Sport via Getty Images)

Sebastian Vettel has ruled out making an F1 comeback – insisting his time at the top of the sport is “over”.

The four time world champion retired at the end of the 2022 season, as he sought to spend more time with his family and pursue other passions away from motorsport.

That led him back into education, working on environmental projects and promoting women’s karting in Saudi Arabia – as well as punditry work on F1. In 2024 he was touted as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and Sergio Perez at Red Bull, but the 38-year-old has always stuck by his decision that he won’t return behind the wheel in F1.

And that is something he continues to insist upon, telling Auto Motor und Sport: “Formula One is over. At some point, the time is ripe to leave the field to others. You can see that especially with the rookies.

“I think it’s good that a whole group of drivers has been replaced. This isn’t a vote against the old drivers, but rather for the young drivers. I didn’t care in the past which of the established drivers was no longer racing. The main thing is that I get to drive.”

Vettel is still eyeing an attempt at the Le Mans 24 hour race however, even putting together a full-time programme in the WEC. He completed test drives in Porsche’s 963 Hypercar, but was not selected in the manufacturer’s lineups for either 2024 or 2025.

“I don’t want to rule out the possibility that something might come of it,” he said. “There have been discussions, but somehow it hasn’t worked out yet.”

Discussing his change in attitude towards WEC racing, Vettel continued: “To be honest, I wasn’t that interested in endurance racing from my lone fighter perspective. I see it differently now. I find it incredibly exciting, this team structure, sharing a car, and making compromises.”

He added: “In motorsport, it’s difficult to say: I’ll only drive half the races. The WEC would actually be a good fit with its eight races, which are also structured differently than Formula One.”