“You won’t hear someone speaking bad about Seb”: Vettel’s rivals praise retiring champion

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In the round-up: Formula 1 drivers have expressed their respect for Sebastian Vettel after the four-time champion announced his retirement from Formula 1 yesterday

In brief

Rivals pay tribute to Vettel after retirement announcement

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Vettel’s announcement of his retirement prompted a wave of praise from his rivals past and present.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen said Vettel “had an amazing career” and is “a great ambassador for the sport”, while long-time rival Lewis Hamilton said he was convinced that “whatever he does, it’s going to be great if he applies himself the way he has here.”

Lance Stroll, Vettel’s current team mate, said he was “a great team player and someone that that’s been really easy to work alongside”. Lando Norris praised how approachable the multiple champion had been, describing how Vettel was “always open for a chat, which is always something you admire and have a lot of respect for, when you are also such big competitors at the same time.”

Carlos Sainz Jnr, a former Red Bull junior driver, said Vettel had been “a great role model” before his debut in Formula 1. “Everyone in the paddock loves him,” Sainz said. “You will not hear someone speaking bad about Seb.”

Verstappen wants 16-race calendar on just “the good tracks”

Max Verstappen says he would like to have fewer races on the F1 calendar. Asked what one rule he would like to see changed in the sport, the world champion replied “less races.”

The 2022 season will feature a record-equalling 22 rounds after being originally planned to include 23 before the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix.

Asked what the ideal number of rounds in the calendar would be, Verstappen said “I think, like, 16. Just pick all the good tracks. Leave all the others out.” The 2023 F1 calendar is tipped to feature a record-breaking 24 rounds with the addition of races in Las Vegas and Qatar.

Illott signs “long term” extension with Juncos Hollinger

Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger, Indianapolis 500 testing, 2022
Ilott is extending his stay in IndyCar
IndyCar rookie Callum Ilott has signed a “long term” contract extension that will see him remain in the series with the Juncos Hollinger team for the “foreseeable future”.

Ilott is competing in his first full IndyCar season with the team after racing at three rounds with the team at the end of 2021. Ilott currently sits 21st in the standings with 150 points with a best finish of eighth in the Indianapolis Grand Prix.

“The potential that we have shown as a one car team can only get better as we grow and expand this programme,” said Ilott. “I am super happy to continue working with all the team members at JHR, we have created a great foundation together this season.”

Newgarden cleared to take part in practice

Penske driver Josef Newgarden has been evaluated by IndyCar’s medical director Dr Geoffrey Billows and cleared to take part in Friday’s practice session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. A further evaluation will be conducted afterwards to determine whether the driver who lies third in the championship can continue to compete in its 13th round.

Santino Ferrucci is on standby if Penske require a replacement for Newgarden who spent a night in hospital after hitting his head in a fall at Iowa on Sunday, following the crash which put him out of the race.

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Social media

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Comment of the day

With Sebastian Vettel suddenly announcing he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season, @freelittlebirds pays tribute to the four-time champion…

I’ve been a critic of his at some points but there’s no doubt that he’s been a phenomenal racer. You only need to look at his 53 wins and 57 poles – one of the very few F1 drivers to reach the century mark combined.

He put Red Bull on the map and they owe a lot of their success to his ability to take off by the first corner never to be seen again. As Hobbs said, it was reminiscent of Jim Clark to put Vettel’s ability in context.

With V8 and V10s, I doubt many would be able to get by him and he may have collected many more championships. He definitely didn’t enjoy the hybrid cars but was still quite competitive at Ferrari and Aston Martin.

His rivalry with Hamilton, Webber, and Alonso will certainly go down in history. I’m very excited to see him continue his work on improving the environment.

We’re at a precipice and we need to change or it will all have been for nothing. It’s now time for him to champion a much more worthy cause.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Kevin, Mandev and Sean Doyle!

On this day in motorsport

Hamilton won in Hungary today in 2012

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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18 comments on ““You won’t hear someone speaking bad about Seb”: Vettel’s rivals praise retiring champion”

  1. Profile Photo

    ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
    29th July 2022, 0:59

    I would like to be a fly on the wall of Kimi’s bar when he and Vettel and Webber open a bottle.

    1. Profile Photo

      stjs16 (@stjs16)
      29th July 2022, 10:25

      I suspect it wouldn’t stop at one

  2. S
    29th July 2022, 4:37

    Verstappen wants 16-race calendar on just “the good tracks”

    Who doesn’t want only the best bits of something?

    Nevertheless – the more of it you have, the more good bits there will be.

    1. Ruben
      29th July 2022, 8:53

      Nevertheless – the more of it you have, the more good bits there will be.

      That’s dependent on what you add. You never diluted anything?

      1. XV
        29th July 2022, 12:41

        True. It’s like when the barman gives you more mixer than spirit in your overpriced drink.

      2. S
        29th July 2022, 12:46

        I’ve diluted liquids and gases, sure – but never a racing series made up of many individual events.
        They are only changing the number of events they have, not the quality of them. The actual individual events themselves would be exactly the same regardless of how many others there are.
        And it’s always worth remembering that that the difference between an event rating a 4 and a 10 can be the weather…

        Some might consider that the events F1 have added allow them to continue to go to the ones that they actually want.
        The teams have never wanted – or received – as much money for participating as they do now.

  3. Profile Photo

    bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
    29th July 2022, 4:59

    Great to see the love shown to Seb – and that Daniil has a sense of humour over the ‘torpedo’ incident.

  4. Profile Photo

    UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
    29th July 2022, 6:00

    Turned out just sticking a 100HP MAHLE unit on 12 year old technology shears crankshafts and destroys bearing seats. It’s like they consulted Clarkson, MORE POWERR

  5. Profile Photo

    bosyber (@bosyber)
    29th July 2022, 7:25

    That article about laughing at Palou, what a toxic atmosphere does that convey. Didn’t read to the end because there is no substance other than that.

    1. someone or something
      29th July 2022, 8:26

      I’m inclined to refuse to even click on it. So many different tones a journalist can choose from, and he went for patronising, cranked up to 11. If he wrote about a female driver in that condescending tone, the excrement would’ve already hit the fan. And rightfully so.

      1. jff
        29th July 2022, 9:14

        Interestingly I find your responses also a bit more negative than the article deserves IMO. I guess you cannot unread it, but you can just leave it for what you think it is.
        I somewhat enjoyed the read and the ‘clowns in a car’ comparison, although it went on a bit too long.

        Somebody clearly made a mistake and all seem to point in the same direction. The journalist in this case decided to cover the story in a comical sauce. Clearly not for all.

        PS the article is not “laughing at Palou” but clearly taking the mickey out of his management team.

        1. someone or something
          29th July 2022, 12:04

          Having now read the article, I can but disagree with your assessment. That article is the literary equivalent of projectile vomit, and every bit as nausea-inducing. I’m not going to give in to the instinct of stressing how much I understand the humour, because I have the humour all the time, with many different jokes … The thing is, I fail to see any. That journo thinks “Palou dum, Palou management dum”, so he writes “They clowns in a car, lol”. And that’s all the nuance there is to it. Dislike X, insult X, done. That’s the kind of humour schoolyard bullies tend to produce at an age where they struggle to cope with their insecurities. In that context, pecking on an easy victim, thinly veiled as humour, albeit of the kind an illiterate troglodyte would’ve had no trouble coming up with, is at least explainable.
          But that guy? He has no excuse. That article is a pathetic waste of internet.

          1. jff
            29th July 2022, 13:05

            I’m not saying it’s good humour, but it didn’t bother me.
            Maybe it’s me, but we all need to be careful not to judge others.

            If you state that “That’s the kind of humour schoolyard bullies tend to produce at an age where they struggle to cope with their insecurities”, you are doing almost the same you are accusing him of ;)

          2. someone or something
            29th July 2022, 13:35

            Don’t forget that I likened him to an illiterate troglodyte.

            The thing is, I’m not trying to sell my discontent about that article as humour, or even the fruit of my profession. Not really grounds for “No, you”, I’d say.
            In the same vein, while it’s rarely wrong to ask for people not to be too judgemental, it is kind of weird to pop that argument in defense of an article that is pure, condensed jugement.

          3. jff
            29th July 2022, 17:38

            I can only repeat what I said before: “we all need to be careful not to judge others”.

            I did not as much as ‘defend’ the guy, but just pointed out that it did not offend me.
            I suggest you read your own comment again and try to live up to it. Don’t skip over the word ‘patronising’.

    2. Profile Photo

      praxis (@praxis)
      29th July 2022, 8:38

      I noticed this tendency of favouring conflict, negativity and toxicity… simply because they add to the drama. Easy option to take if you want to make something attractive.

  6. jff
    29th July 2022, 7:45

    How ironic that all thank yous are sent via Social Media.

  7. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    29th July 2022, 7:50

    I know how F1 people generally define ‘good’ tracks, but unfortunately for him & others wishing, this won’t happen considering how many outside this group are lucrative events.

    Kvyat just had to make a joke by referencing their 2016 Russian GP coming together.

    Surprisingly, IndyCar still doesn’t use hybrid technology, although not the only such series.

    I doubt Porsche would get a say in driver choices or that the Horner-Marko duo would get sacked.

    A well-put COTD.

    Coincidently, I attended the 2012 Hungarian GP.

Comments are closed.