‘I’m not a saint’ as Vettel declares his concern over the future

Sebastian Vettel recently featured on British TV show Question Time where he debated political topics.

Ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel made a sensational appearance on British television show Question Time, as the German driver debated ongoing environmental issues.

The political debate show sees the audience ask a selection of guest panelists questions regarding current topical issues.

The four-time World Champion represented himself and Formula 1 superbly, giving highly educated answers throughout.

A key topic discussed on the show was fossil fuels, and how some countries remain too dependant on them.

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Formula 1 relies heavily on fossil fuels, however, the sport is trying to become more carbon friendly and reduce its enormous carbon footprint.

Vettel discussed his concerns over fossil fuels in depth.

“We need to stop being dependent [on fossil fuels], and we can, because there are solutions in place,” Vettel said.

“You know, in Britain, you have this sort of goldmine you’re sitting on, which is wind, and you have the ability to increase your energy supply with wind power, solar.

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“Every country has its strengths and weaknesses. If you go to Austria, they have the Alps and they have water, they can pump it up, store it, take it back down.”

Vettel went on to admit that he questions himself whether racing is right, whenever he gets out of his AMR22.

“It’s something that I’m asking myself. There’s certain things that are in my control, and certain things are not,” the German continued.

“It’s my passion to drive a car. Every time I step in the car, I love it. When I get out of the car, of course I’m thinking as well: ‘Is this something we should do, travel the world, wasting resources?'”

The 34-year-old discussed on the show how he tries to help the environment in the areas he can control, such as his mode of transport between events.

“There’s things that I do because I feel I can do them better. Do I take the plane every time? No, not when I can take the car,” the Aston Martin driver added.

“But there’s certain things in my control, and certain things outside.”

Vettel has over the last few years become an environmental activist, the Aston Martin driver has been seen wearing t-shirts and specially designed helmets in support of certain issues.

Host of the show, Fiona Bruce, questioned Vettel over whether he was a hypocrite, for being in support of environmental change but also being a Formula 1 driver.

The audience laughed prior to the German’s response, however, he was quickly met by applause from the crowd.

“It does, and you’re right. You’re right when you laugh, because there’s questions I ask myself every day,” Vettel responded.

“I’m not a saint. I’m very concerned when it comes to the future.”

The ongoing pandemic was also talked about on the show.

Formula 1 was one of the first sports to restart following the global eruption of the Coronavirus, something which Vettel believes stopped people from “probably going mad”.

“On the other hand, you know, we were entertaining people during Covid,” he said.

“We were one of the first ones to start again, when everybody’s heads were about to explode.

“I’m not saying Formula 1 has this huge position in the world to deliver entertainment. There’s plenty of people – if you talk about entertainment, sports, culture, comedy – a lot of people who couldn’t perform, and a lot of people missed that.

“And I think if we didn’t have that, in general, we’d probably go mad,” Vettel concluded.