Over the years, Sebastian Vettel has been described as many things. Some called him overrated, a hypocrite, and too cocky. Now that his F1 career has come to an end, Sebastian has since proved those claims false, instead using his large platform to enact real change within the world beyond racing. During the years Sebastian drove for Red Bull he broke countless records, won multiple world championships, and caused some drama as well. Consequently, Red Bull created a formula for success and nothing could stand in the way of the monster that Red Bull created. But, he couldn’t have done it without two other characters playing an important role in his success.

Vettel’s Rise to Formula 1

With Sebastian Vettel’s long racing career coming to an end this year, he is arguably one of the best F1 drivers to ever do it. But the road it took to get to the top was not short, nor easy. However, having such a huge passion for racing from a young age and having a family who supported him made it easier.

Childhood & early love for racing. Sebastian Vettel was born on July 3, 1987 in Heppenheim, West Germany to Norbert and Heike Vettel. By the time Sebastian could walk, he already had fallen in love with motorsport. At age 3, Norbert purchased him a small go-cart to drive around his house to play with; subsequently Sebastian’s love and passion for racing grew from a young age. Among motorsport Sebastian loved basketball and music. Consequently, his 3 idols growing up were the legendary Ferrari F1 driver: Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jackson. Sebastian raced at go-kart events and was notably quick for his age. When he was signed to the Red Bull junior racing team at only age 11, it came to no surprise of himself or his parents. Vettel’s biggest accomplishment in his junior series career was winning the Junior Monaco Kart Cup when he was 14. In 2004, Sebastian drove in the German Formula BMW Championship and won 18 out of 20 races that year. One year later he competed in the Formula 3 Euro series and was recognized with rookie of the year. (“Sebastian Vettel Biography Facts…”). These performances were enough to get him a spot in the pinnacle of motorsport. As soon as Sebastian was old enough to receive a F1 Super License in order to compete in F1, he was promoted to be the test driver for BMW Sauber F1 team. He had finally made it.

Ready for F1. In August 2006, the young and hungry driver who had burst on the scene finally got the chance to participate in an F1 weekend. Just a 19 year old, Sebastian Vettel was granted the opportunity to drive in the 1st and 2nd session of practice at the Turkish Grand Prix. Sebastian let his talent show under the spotlight and finished fastest in the 2nd session of free practice. At the time Vettel set multiple records. Not only did he break the record for the youngest driver to ever participate in a race weekend at the time, but he also broke the record of receiving the fastest penalty in F1 when he was caught speeding in the pitlane 6 seconds after leaving his garage. Later in 2007, a devastating accident in the Canadian Grand Prix injured driver Robert Kubica. So BMW Sauber called up their young, promising, and hungry reserve driver to step in for Kubica at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. And so, Sebastian did just that. He finished 8th place and brought home a point for the team on his debut performance (Aldas). Peter Sauber, team boss of BMW Sauber reflects on his time with Vettel “I hadn’t realized how much more there was to come from him. The most amazing thing about him is his intelligence.” Peter Sauber, the man who headed BMW Sauber during Vettel’s stay, capitalizes how Sebastian was so adept in F1 despite his young age (“Why is Sebastian Vettel so dominant?”).

Signed to Red Bull & Promotion. Sebastian’s performance at Indy impressed Red Bull so much that they announced he would be replacing Scott Speed for the rest of the year in their sister team, Toro Rosso and for the following 2008 F1 season. With Sebastian having a spot in F1 he grew confidence, poise, and ultimately got to grips with Formula 1. On the weekend of September 14, 2008 Sebastian shocked the world. A rainy weekend at the Italian Grand Prix posed a tough challenge for all drivers on the grid. Except for Sebastian Vettel. He didn’t let it phase him, and seized the opportunity to take pole position and win the race. With such an astonishing victory, it made him the youngest race winner at the time (Aldas). Nobody expected such a young driver to dominate at such a difficult track, let alone have it be done in the rain. 4 races later, Sebastian closed out the 2008 season with a tremendous 4th place finish to cap off his year. With Vettel turning heads so early in his F1 career, Red Bull knew they had something special. Hence, Sebastian Vettel was signed and promoted to the main Red Bull team for the 2009 season. Sure, Red Bull knew they were getting something special when Sebastian was signed; but what they didn’t know was that they were getting another piece to the championship winning formula.

Ardian Newey: The Mastermind of Formula 1 

Adrian Newey is considered one of the most successful F1 race car designers of all time. He has been designing race cars for multiple teams, in various racing series and has consistently found success with each one. He can be considered a race engineer, aerodynamicist, designer, technical director, and an overall genius. You’ll come quick to find that Newey was another important piece of the championship winning formula Red Bull had put together.

Education. Adrian Newey was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England in 1958. Throughout his young life he was known to be a rash teen, yet incredibly witty and intelligent. During his teen years he attended Repton Public School and got expelled because he turned up the sound mixer at a concert and broke stained glass from the 11th century (“Adrian Newey-the Most Successful…”). After he got expelled from Repton he went to college at Leamington-Spa in central England where he graduated with a diploma in engineering. His diploma was enough to get him into the University of Southampton where Adrian studied aeronautics and astronautics. Newey graduated with a first class honors degree in aeronautics and astronautics. During his time there, Newey wrote a thesis on ground effect on ground effect aerodynamics that caught the eye of racing teams. Shortly after graduation, he landed a job at Fittipaldi Automotive.

Early career. Despite Newey having such a vast understanding of aerodynamics under his belt at a young age, he was fired from Fitipaldi when he was blamed for putting in the wrong amount of fuel. Shortly after his first firing, he was hired by the March F1 team where he found his first taste of success. Newey designed March’s IMSA GTP class cars, bringing back the championship for them in 1983 and 1984. One year later, Newey designed the March 85-C which raced in the indycar championship and won the championship that year. Despite the success, Neweys designs were so unique, and distant from other designs that he received criticism for it, even from his own drivers. Due to other teams with far more powerful engines like Ferrari and Honda, Newey had to innovate the aerodynamics of the car to be able to compete. However, his installation of a far narrower nose to improve the aerodynamics sacrificed comfortability and made the car extremely cramped. Even though Newey’s designs were finding success, they were so revolutionary that they were almost too revolutionary (Adrian Newey-the most successful…”). Newey was fired by the team in the summer of 1990.

Success with Williams and McLaren F1 teams. Newey was quickly hired by the Williams F1 team in late 1990. For the past few years, Williams had been a top running team with world class drivers, and a large budget at their disposal. In addition, they now had an innovative technical director hungry to win an F1 championship. While Newey was at Williams, they found great success. Williams won 5 constructors championships while Newey was there; in addition he assisted 4 different drivers (Nigel Mansel, Alian Prost, Damon Hill, and Jacquelles Villeneueve) to fulfill their dream of winning an F1 world championship. After Jacques Villeneuve won the title in 1997, Newey felt it was time to move on. (“Adrian Newey-the most successful…”). The following year, the lucky team to land Newey was the McLaren-Mercedes team. Immediately, McLaren felt the effect of Newey’s designs, winning 2 titles back to back in 1998 and 1999.

Hired by Red Bull. After the late Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominated the early 2000’s, Newey was approached by a young team who had just entered Formula 1: Red Bull Racing. Newey accepted the offer and became the team's technical director for 2006. Newey explains his thoughts when he accepted the job offer, “But they were teams that had won races and championships and clearly had the infrastructure to be capable of doing so in the future (Williams and McLaren). It meant they were able to get to the point of winning races and championships quite quickly. Red Bull was a very different case – which is what appealed to me. When I joined it was a very young team that was still developing its infrastructure and personnel. It's a much longer process than going somewhere well-established" (“Adrian Newey -the most successful…”). After Newey accepted the job, he notes that the team being so underdeveloped and new to the sport appealed to him. It was almost like Newey had a hunger to take this young team to the top and saw it as a challenge. Having such an innovative and motivated technical designer was not only massive for Red Bull’s performance in races, but it boosted overall team morale. Having now acquired the second and arguably the most important piece of the championship winning formula, they were ready to dominate.

Christian Horner: More than a team principal

Christian Horner has been with Red Bull since the very start. In 2004 he was chosen to be team principal of the newly founded F1 team. Over the years, Horner proved to be more than a team principal. Among bringing the team together and calling the right shots behind the pitwall, Horner brought personality to the team and the overall brand of Red Bull. What Christian achieved was no small feat, and more impressive to think about when you look at where he has brought the team in the current day. Without Horner, you could argue this whole operation wouldn’t have even gotten out of phase 1.

History in Formula 3000 & Arden International. Prior to entering the racing management, Christian was a driver himself in the Formula 3000 series. Shortly after 2 years of racing in Formula 3000 he hung up the overalls and set for racing management. At age 25, Horner founded the Arden International Race team. Horner quickly built the team into a powerhouse, taking home 3 constructors championships from 2002-2004 along with 2 WDC complementing the constructors' marks. (“Christian Horner OBE”). Despite finding quick success for his own team, he had to step down; but for good reason. He was entering the pinnacle of motorsport.

Hired by Red Bull. After managing Formula 3000, Horner quickly gained a reputation for being passionate, unapologetic, and willing to do anything to make his team win. This personality fit what Red Bull wanted, so they chose Horner to be at the forefront of their campaign when they entered the sport in 2004. Not only did Horner possess the characteristics to be a successful team principal, but he knew himself what it was like to be the driver on a racing team.

Laying the foundation for success. While Horner was waiting for Sebastian Vettel to make it up the ranks, he spent those years laying out the foundation of success for Red Bull. Recruiting both quality and quantity, the future looked promising. With the arrival of Adrian Newey in 2006, Red Bull grew into a team capable of competing on any given weekend. Yet, they were still extremely new to the sport and lacked the brand to match some of the most iconic racing brands they were going up against. So, Horner felt he had to give the Red Bull team their own brand through showing a “maverick” personality. Christian said it best, “We’ve always stuck to the principles that we’re a race team, here to go racing. We’re not afraid to sometimes take difficult and bold decisions. We’re not a corporately driven organization. We’ve always been a little independent and maverick. We’re a challenging brand and a challenging team that embodies itself in everything we do and how we go racing.” (Wolkin). After establishing that personality within the team, Horner kept building Red Bull into as much of a winning machine as possible. However, it wasn’t until 2009 where Red Bull found real success when they took a chance with a young German driver behind the wheel.

2010-2013 F1 seasons

The seasons that followed Sebastian Vettel’s signing at Red Bull was nothing short of dominance. From winning 4 world championships in a row and setting multiple records in the process, Sebastian was unstoppable. “He just got better and better. In 2009 we were a young team, as well as him, and we made a few mistakes. In 2010 he was the standout driver of the year. By the time we got to 2013, he just absolutely dominated, and then he got 9 wins in succession, that was for me his pinnacle year.” Horner reflects back to the time when Vettel was on the team, noting how quickly he grew over the years(Wilde). During his 2012 world championship campaign Sebastian found himself starting in 4th position at the last race of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Sebastian was ahead of his title rival, Fernando Alonso by a few points in the world drivers championship, practically meaning all he had to do was finish the race in order to take the championship home. However, Vettel had a spin on the first lap and fell down last place, putting him out of the championship. It wasn’t until then that the world really got to see Sebastian’s true will to win. Instead of giving up and handing the championship to his rival, he put his head down and charged from the back of the field up to 7th place (Aldas). That would be enough for him to finish 3 points ahead of Alonso in the championship, and take the title home for the 3rd time in a row. Without Vettel behind the wheel of one of the best cars designed by Newey, the achievements we are able to look at today would never exist. 

Broken records. Over the course of the 2010-2013 F1 seasons Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel broke multiple records, with some that still stand to this day. The records that he has held and lost are almost too long to list, but here are the most impressive ones. When Vettel won his first title in 2010, he was crowned as the youngest world champion in F1 history, winning it at 23 years and 134 days old, a record that may never be beaten to this day. In 2011, Vettel dominated qualifying. He started from pole at 15 out of the 19 races that year, a number that looks like it came from a video game. That same year, Vettel proved that he was taking over the F1 scene by winning 9 races in a row, a record that capitalizes how the connection between Vettel’s driving and Newey’s car design was supreme. Vettel is also the youngest pole sitter in F1 and holds the record of most laps led in a F1 season with 739

Technical innovations. With a large budget produced by the energy drink company, Newey was able to produce some of his greatest designs with Red Bull during Vettel’s time there. In 2009 when slick tyres were reintroduced and the new aerodynamic regulations gave a level playing field for all teams, Newey was able to interpret the new regulations perfectly and produce cars capable of winning championships. Without a driver like Sebastian behind the wheel all those innovations would have gone to waste. 

Enacting real change

Despite Sebastian Vettel being a 4 time world champion, he has gained a powerful platform and chooses it to enact real change outside of the racing world.

Environmental change. Sebastian is a known activist of climate change. Recently, Sebastian has been seen sporting various helmets with different messages advising for climate change. For example, at the Miami Grand Prix, the helmet read “Miami 2060: First Grand Prix underwater”. Sebastian himself was seen picking up trash in the grandstands almost 3 hours after the British Grand Prix in 2021. In addition to that, Sebastian is an ambassador for the BeesAndApple project which aims to create new habitats for bees. While Sebastian was in Austria for a race weekend, he took his time aside and built a “bee hotel” with local Austrian schoolchildren. He’s also been seen on public transport, avoided taking private team jets, and on occasion has biked to some races. (Hopkins).

LGBTQ+ support. Not only does Sebastian use his platform and voice to advocate for climate change, he also has shown support for the LGBTQ+ community. Along with fellow driver Lewis Hamilton, the two are able to put their past rivalry on the track behind them and both speak out about inclusion. He has been seen wearing shirts and helmets with different messages on them, advocating for change even in countries where homosexuality is not allowed. Prior to a race, Sebastian was reprimanded by the governing body of F1 for wearing a shirt that said “Same love” on it. Despite the warning, Sebastian kept it on and stood with what he felt was right, saying “They can do whatever they want. I don’t care. I’d do it again.” (Wood.) 

Retirement & exit from F1

After spending the last 2 seasons with Aston Martin, Sebastian has chosen to retire to spend time with his family. At the end of the 2022 season, he wrote thank you letters to all 19 of the drivers and arranged a farewell dinner at the final race in Abu Dhabi. At this point in his career, even his biggest title rivals from the past; such as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have nothing but good things to say about Sebastian and his personality. Before the last race, Alonso said in an Instagram post “Danke Seb. One last time sharing the track with you, it will be emotional and sad at the same time, but I wish you best for the next chapter.” In 2010 and 2012, Fernando gave Sebastian a run for his money, but Sebastian was able to beat him out. Despite being fierce title rivals with Alonso, he shows Sebastian a great amount of respect. (Williams). In addition, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian have had their fair share of entanglements on track as well. When Lewis was asked about Sebastian Vettel’s retirement he said, "He has been one of the very, very few drivers in racing history that has stood for much more than himself. He's used his voice in things that I've fought for and stood by me, he's taken a knee, he's gone on his own journey and stood on the grid and fought for things that he believed in, and for the greater good.” (“Sebastian Vettel: Lewis Hamilton pays tribute…”). Furthermore, Sebastian’s Ferrari teammate from 2019 to 2020, Charles Leclerc, said “As a person, he's been incredible. In Formula 2, I remember doing the simulator work, which is not easy because it's really tiring. "I thought that Seb probably didn't even know I was on the simulator, and I received a letter one day thanking me for all the hard work and it meant a lot for me at the time.” Despite Charles being a All of these instances capitalize how Sebastian is a champion, on and off the track. (Williams).

Conclusion

From 2010-2013 Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull were one of the most unstoppable forces to ever be seen in F1. With a young, hungry, determined driver behind the wheel of a car curated by one of the most prestigious designers of all time while behind the helm of a savvy cold-blooded team principal, the formula for success could not have been more clear. With Christian Horner laying out the plan and bringing Newey on, Sebastian took what he was given and quickly grew into an unstoppable winning machine. Over the course of his career he has proven himself as one of the best by winning multiple championships and breaking multiple records on track. From using his platform to advocate for a number of issues that he cares about to simple things like picking up trash after races, it shows Sebastian is a champion off track as well.

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