{"id":251158,"date":"2022-11-18T04:21:35","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T05:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=251158"},"modified":"2022-11-18T10:57:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T10:57:26","slug":"verstappens-admission-after-f1-champs-gesture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=251158","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen's admission after F1 champ's gesture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sebastian Vettel<\/a> has had his fair share of controversies in his 16-year-long Formula 1<\/a> career, but his greatest rivals say he's left a long-lasting positive impression on them.<\/p>\n

During his reign at Red Bull<\/a>, the German driver took four world championships between 2010 and 2013.<\/p>\n

The last of those championship wins included an unbeaten run of nine straight wins.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Red Bull's bizarre reaction to 'sickening' attacks<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Cruel' blow that brought England star to tears<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Explosive TV interview threatens World Cup quest<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

He remains the youngest Formula 1 champion at 23 years old, the youngest pole position winner, and the youngest driver to score a hat trick.<\/p>\n

Despite his success, Vettel was a polarising figure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His 'Multi 21' feud with Australian teammate Mark Webber<\/a> divided opinion and his iconic one-fingered salute infuriated the naysayers.<\/p>\n

\"Sebastian<\/p>\n

However, in the twilight of his career, perceptions of a so-called "arrogant" Vettel have changed.<\/p>\n

For Max Verstappen<\/a>, it was Vettel's response to the Dutch driver's enormous crash while battling Lewis Hamilton<\/a> at last year's British Grand Prix that stuck in his mind.<\/p>\n

"He's had a career which a lot of people could only dream of. But at the end of the day, that's not everything. I think, as a person, he's always been very caring," said Verstappen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Verstappen<\/p>\n

"Of course, I had my heated battles with him, especially in the beginning of my career \u2013 but for me, one thing I will always remember for the rest of my life, last year, in Silverstone, I came back from the hospital to get to my motorhome to get all my stuff and he was there, waiting for me when I got out of the car.<\/p>\n

"He said, 'Are you okay, Max? How are you doing? Are you okay?', and that just shows how he is, you know, a super nice, caring person who is not only there for performance, but also means well, you know. I think that's also really nice to be remembered like that.<\/p>\n

"He will definitely be missed. But on the other hand, I also really wish him well for the future, whatever he wants to do, to be honest, but I think what is most important is to spend time with family. You know, he's a real family man. And that's great to see and a great example."<\/p>\n

\"Sebastian<\/p>\n

After his time at Red Bull, Vettel went on to join Ferrari in a bid to do what his hero Michael Schumacher had done before him.<\/p>\n

The ultimate goal of winning a Formula 1 world championship in red unfortunately never came to fruition.<\/p>\n

In the midst of his tenure at the Scuderia, a young Charles Leclerc \u2013 still in the FIA Formula 2 Championship \u2013 worked with Ferrari as one of its simulator drivers.<\/p>\n

The Monegasque junior said he expected Vettel to care very little about his role in the team, but was surprised when he received a letter out of the blue.<\/p>\n

"He has been incredible. He's achieved so much in the sport, and there is nothing much more to say on that side," said Leclerc.<\/p>\n

"As a person, he's been incredible. I remember, already in Formula 2, I was doing the simulator work, which, okay, it's not easy work to do, because it's really, really tiring and I thought that Seb probably didn't even know I was on the simulator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Charles<\/p>\n

"I received a letter one day, just thanking me for all the hard work. And that meant a lot for me at that time. But that was only a small thing. Then obviously we became teammates in 2019 and 2020 also, where he has taught me really a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"We've had our tense moments on track, but the respect off the track has never changed and he's always been there for me whenever I had difficult times. And that was very different to what I was used to with my previous teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Obviously, in Formula 1 it's normal, there's inner competition inside the team but he has always been super caring and trying to help me whenever I was going through more difficult times."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/F1\/status\/990329687699144704<\/a><\/p>\n

Perhaps his greatest rival, Lewis Hamilton, recounted an incident on the streets of Baku in 2017 that left the pair flustered.<\/p>\n

At the time, neither driver was willing to concede fault. Ironically, it brought them closer together off the track.<\/p>\n

"When I think of Seb \u2026 he was a bit of a nuisance back then," the seven-time champion joked.<\/p>\n

Vettel replied: "I'm actually quite sorry \u2026 it's your answer, but I think Baku wasn't a great moment, because what I did wasn't right. But actually from that moment onwards", Hamilton interjected, "Our friendship got better!"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding a shock win at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Vettel will end his career with four championships, 53 race wins, 122 podium finishes, and 57 pole positions.<\/p>\n

What is to come remains unclear. Hamilton joked that Vettel would one day find his way back to Formula 1.<\/p>\n

Vettel said he'll most likely continue racing elsewhere. Exactly where remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sebastian Vettel has had his fair share of controversies in his 16-year-long Formula 1 career, but his greatest rivals say he's left a long-lasting positive […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=251158"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251160,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251158\/revisions\/251160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=251158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=251158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=251158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}