Sebastian Vettel has been setting out what may come next for him after announcing he would be leaving Formula 1.
The German made the shock announcement on Thursday and said one of the main reasons for the decision was a desire to spend more time with his wife and three children.
As one of the drivers most active in supporting the causes he believes in, there’s no end to what may come next for Vettel, but he himself still doesn’t have a clear idea.
The four-time world champion said he has interests he wants to pursue both inside and outside of racing.
“A lot of things, a lot of ideas,” he told Sky Sports F1 ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. “I have a lot of interests that some are very close to racing and may have more space in the future, and some have nothing to do with racing.
“I think one thing is what we do and the other is probably who we really are and as much as people know me and we know each other, there are elements that you don’t know about me.
“But here comes Sebastian Vettel!” ❤️#thankyouseb #F1pic.twitter.com/31Ygc5yYVD
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“So the answer is probably that it’s a bit of an unknown. Because even if you have these plans, and so on, there’s no guarantee that they’ll all work out and make me happy.”
Vettel said he was also aware that by stepping away from the F1 grid, he would lose the “big adrenaline rush”, but said he was open to exploring other forms of racing in the hope it could provide something similar.
“I’m also aware that it’s a big adrenaline rush, standing on the grid, the lights going out, I won’t have that anymore. So we’ll see how it feels.
“Sure there’s, you know, maybe the ability to compete with other things in this world. But yeah, I’m not going to get out of this car and think about getting into another one right away. That’s not a decision I made or how I feel. I want to make that decision. Let’s see, but I’m excited and we’ll see how it goes.”
As one of the most beloved drivers on the grid, tributes to Vettel from both his current colleagues and those he has raced against in the past have been pouring in.
Former rival and now close friend Lewis Hamilton said it had been “an honor to call you a competitor and an ever greater honor to call you my friend”.