Sebastian gave an interview for Formula 1 during this break, talking about many topics including his contract renewal, the future of the 2020 worldchampionship calendar, his training and much more.
Below we have reported everything, enjoy the reading!
It’s 8:30am CET and Sebastian Vettel has already been up for a couple of hours with his wife, entertaining their three kids, all under the age of six. But for the next 90 minutes, he will fulfil a series of media calls with a variety of outlets across the globe via video conference before heading out on a long bike ride in the Swiss countryside.
CONTRACTUAL SITUATION
Q: Could it be done before we go racing again?
S: It depends when we will have the first race. There is a high chance we will have to make a decision before there will be the first race because at the moment it looks like there will be no race before June or even July. The main priority at first was to ensure that we’re all dealing with the situation in the right way. Therefore, everything was put on hold and I can imagine that’s the same everywhere else and it was the same for us. It’s not like a couple of days after Australia we said ‘right now [we’ll talk]. We will make progress.
Q: how long would the contract be for?
S: Whatever the deal will be like, it will be whatever I and the team will be comfortable with. So in terms of duration I don’t know. Normally the contracts I’ve had in the past were all three-year deals. I know I’m one of the more experienced drivers in Formula 1 but I’m not the oldest and I don’t think there’s an age limit in this regard.
Ferrari is not staffing, but Vettel has admitted that he is discussing a reduction in salary due to the current situation, although the details will not be revealed.
S: It is definitely something I am talking about with the team. As I said earlier, we don’t know yet how the season will look and when it will start and how many races we will have etc. I’ve always kept whatever decisions I made on this front between the team and myself and it will be the same this time. I’m not keen to use this point at this time as an image polish or anything like that. What I’ve decided to do in the past it has been quiet and it will be the same now.
FORMULA 1: CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY
Q: What do you think of these very difficult and uncertain situation?
S: We have spoken about that a fair amount inside the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association). It’s a very, very difficult one. It’s a tough decision. On the one hand you have the health of the sport if you look at it from a business aspect, on another hand you have the responsibility of the people in the paddock - the working people inside the paddock - and of course most importantly the fans. It’s a sport that is carried out in the open but we have a lot of people that normally come to watch our races. We need to make sure that as much as we are taking care of ourselves we are also taking care of the public. Now, there’s a lot of options you can think of in terms of how to get going again, what’s the best format to start racing again. Whether it’s without fans, whether it’s with fans, ghost races or no-ghost races and other things, I don’t know. I think nobody likes to race in front of empty grandstands, it feels a bit odd, but on the other hand the question is when is the right time to sort of say let’s start racing again and whether a ghost race can be held much sooner than a race in a way that we’re used to it.
What we would all like is to get back to normal - not just for Formula 1 but for everybody’s sake and the whole world - but as I said previously in this regard the best prescription will be to be patient. It is painful because I want to get back in the car and if I’m selfish I want to race, but there’s a lot of people that would like a lot of things right now compared to the situation they’re in now. Probably at the very beginning the first couple of races will be compromised compared to what we’re used to but hopefully not too much because obviously we want to race in a way that we are all familiar with, meaning in front of crowds, in front of fans, with great atmosphere and so on. We will see.
LIFE AT HOME: TRAINING AND CHILDREN
The coronavirus emergency also stopped the world of Formula 1 by forcing staff and drivers to stay home. That's what Sebastian spends his time on.
S: A lot of my time is spent training. It’s similar to a winter progamme. The nicer thing right now is that you can go outside for a lot of the stuff because it’s getting a bit warmer, jumping on the bike etc. That will help me physically and mentally to stay sharp. Moreover the kids are definitely occupying me. Two of them are in kindergarden so we get some stuff sent over but also we’re quite happy to keep the kids entertained and figure out some stuff. There’s been lots of variety, both German-speaking, English-speaking, in terms of offers to do stuff with the kids like courses and stuff online which help. But in general, we’re definitely not getting bored and not running out of ideas. They keep us busy!
I enjoy it a lot, the time I have with them [the kids], but I miss it a lot being in the car. That sensation of driving, there’s nothing really that can replace that, so that’s what we’re waiting for. It gives a chance to reflect and it’s quite intimate time with family as well. Obviously the circumstances that led to it are not nice at all but we’re trying to make the best out of it.
ABOUT VIRTUAL GP
Many drivers have started to race virtually thanks to the F1 2019 game interacting with the fans. Sebastian has not yet joined the group and he explained why.
S: The truth is I didn’t have a simulator until a couple of days ago, so I haven’t been tempted because I didn’t have the chance. I have heard a lot of things about it, so I figured I should get one and try, but I still need to set it up properly. Generally I am not going to foresee a career in sim racing - I think it is more something to try for fun. I’ve grown up with some of the stuff and I have been playing some games, but to be honest since I had kids it’s not the first thing on my list to do. But we’ll see how much time there will be.” He adds: “I’m aware that some people take it very seriously and spend a lot of time there, but I also enjoy doing other things so it will be a bit of a mix.
Source: F1
Author: Lawrence Barretto
Images: credits to F1
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