Credits: IMAGO / Eibner

Sebastian Vettel has finally made an announcement, but sadly, it’s not about his return to motorsport. The German maestro, unusually, has decided to launch his own brand of energy drink, called ‘Perple’, thus, moving away from his Red Bull loyalty. This will mark Vettel’s direct rivalry against Red Bull, arguably the biggest energy drink brand in the world.

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Vettel‘s inspiration to launch a drink came from his racing days when he faced “nasty” consequences after gel or liquid intake. He revealed that he suffered from cramps in his stomach while driving due to the effect of G-forces.

As the four-time world champion retired from motorsport, he has indulged in multiple environmental and sustainability projects. This drink project seems to be another new addition to his post-retirement activities. ‘Perple’ [a combined form of performance and pleasure], is a drink that the 36-year-old claims to be safer and better than the ones present in the market.

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“I discovered this drink and you know got involved more towards the end of my career, the drink is today called Perple, we are launching it and that’s why I’m in London,” said Vettel in an interview with The Fast and The Curious podcast. “The product works, I didn’t have any of these nasty side effects you know. To me, it’s been a game changer”

Vettel has raced with the Red Bull fraternity for over half a decade in the early 2010s, but his association goes way beyond. He was a Red Bull Academy driver prior to that, and remained with them till 2014, winning four titles. Nevertheless, Red Bull had an immense contribution to the German’s racing career, but that did not stop him from being critical.

Sebastian Vettel called Red Bull out over the Christian Horner ordeal

The recent allegations against Christian Horner have been the lowest point in Red Bull’s history. Reputation-wise, it has been a disaster, and the way the team handled the entire situation, got them into the quicksand even more.

The ordeal garnered criticism from all around, and Sebastian Vettel too opened up as he decided not to sit back and relax. Despite the Austrian team clearing grievances against Horner over the allegations of misconduct from a female employee, Vettel said that the case wouldn’t have attracted such huge attention if Red Bull maintained transparency.

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Vettel’s concern goes hand in hand with Toto Wolff and Zak Brown, who talked about transparency as well. The two leading figures of the sport strongly asked the FIA and F1 to come out clean in Horner’s case.

Interestingly, Sebastian Vettel’s comments arrived amidst the rumors of his return to Formula 1 with Mercedes. The German former driver was on talking terms with Toto Wolff, but nothing has been confirmed as yet.