Vettel refuses to rule out prospect of F1 comeback

Sebastian Vettel has not ruled out a potential comeback to Formula 1, believing he cannot "exclude" the possibility.

The four-time champion retired aged 35 after the 2022 season to spend time with his family and focus on environmental concerns, but the prospect of a comeback has not gone away, especially as other champions have left Grand Prix racing to return.

The likes of Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen all spent seasons out of F1 before returning, with Lauda claiming the 1985 title with McLaren after his return.

While Vettel is not actively seeking a drive on the grid, the 53-time Grand Prix did not rule out the possibility of making a return.

Vettel comeback?

"I can't say no, because that you don't know," he explained to Sky Sports F1 when he took part in the recent demonstration run of the 2011 title-winning RB7 at the Nurburgring.

"I think it's something that if you asked all of [the drivers who quit and came back] probably some of them would have said: 'No' [to a return], some of them I don't know, but in the end all of them came back, so I can't exclude it.

"It probably will depend much on when, and obviously it's not endless, because [at] 36 [I am] not like: 'Yeah in 10 years' time' [I will come back].

"Maybe I think about it then time has passed but it will depend on the challenge, whatever, but it's not in my head right now.

"I'm enjoying the sort of outlook of the challenge of what to do next. It will be the way I see it, the biggest challenge for any racing driver and the biggest challenge for any sportsman, or sportswoman: What do you do after [retirement]?

"There's a lot of life left and life can be great even though you're not racing on the absolute limit in the fastest car in the world, but you can still do lots of great things that give you great pleasure."

Vettel also revealed that he would only return on his own terms and not as a replacement for an injured driver, such as when he was heavily linked with replacing the injured Lance Stroll in the early part of the 2023 season.

"[I will come back] because I want to, not because if somebody falls out I'm going to [step in], not because of that.

"But my neck is not up to speed, it can't be, but everything else [physically] is pretty, pretty good, I would say."

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