McLaren F1 superstar Lando Norris isn’t planning on filling Sebastian Vettel’s boots anytime soon, with the Aston Martin F1 Team driver set to leave a huge hole in Formula 1.
The four-time World Champion shocked the motorsport world prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he announced that 2022 would be his last season in F1.
Whilst he hasn’t battled towards the front since his Ferrari days, Vettel has been a key figure off the circuit.
The German has become an activist and demonstrated support for countless campaigns, including, environmental and climate change, LGBTQ+ and equal rights, just to name a few.
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The 35-year-old has used his position as an F1 driver for good, despite an onslaught of criticism for being a “hypocrite”.
Vettel received many calls for being a hypocrite for fighting environmental change yet receiving a paycheck from Aston Martin’s title partner Aramco, a Saudi Arabian oil company.
None of this has fazed the exceptional German, who Sir Lewis Hamilton hopes has “inspired” younger drivers to not be afraid to use their voice and stand-up for important matters.
Norris is a fan of Vettel’s activism; however, doesn’t believe it’s fair for young drivers to be pressured into being like the four-time World Champion.
The McLaren driver doesn’t think Vettel would’ve been doing what he is now “five or 10 years ago”, noting that the German used to be “ruthless”.
“A little bit, I’m not going to fill his [Vettel’s] boots,” he said via GPFans.
“I don’t think anyone in their first five years of Formula 1 is going to fill the boots of a guy who is in their final year of Formula 1, and the Seb of now is a very different Seb to the Seb of five or 10 years ago.
“The ruthless Seb doesn’t look so ruthless anymore. If Multi 21 came back, he might abide by it this time!”
Norris referenced the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix, where Vettel was instructed not to overtake team-mate Mark Webber, codenamed ‘Multi21’.
‘Multi21’ was the team’s code to the drivers to turn their engines down and hold position, with the duo in a comfortable one-two.
Vettel failed to respect the team’s order and overtook his Australian team-mate to claim an extremely unpopular victory.
Norris just wants to focus on his own career for the time being, to not “get criticised”.
“It’s very difficult and I don’t think you can put pressure on any young driver to say why aren’t you doing what Seb is doing because young Seb wasn’t doing what Seb is doing now.
“Everyone is different. Some people want to stay out of it completely and some people want to help,” Norris noted.
“There’s no reason why I wouldn’t want to speak up and say things, it’s just in the world we are living in now, it’s not easy to just say what I feel and give my opinion because there are just so many people that will criticise that opinion.
“I just need to make sure that I focus on my job in Formula 1 and I don’t get criticised for doing that before not caring about that completely like Seb now.”
Despite not wanting to fill the German’s boots just yet, Norris intends to “try a little bit”.
The Brit who is currently seventh in the Drivers’ Championship has a “lot of respect” for Vettel, who is regularly seen wearing clothing in support of a campaign.
“I believe Seb is saying everything and doing everything he can for the best reasons, he’s creating chit-chat and creating headlines which is the whole thing that he is trying to do,” he said.
“It might look silly having some bees on your helmet and stuff like that, but he has created stuff out of it and is doing exactly what he wants to do. I have a lot of respect for that.
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“I’ve just got to make the most out of my career, do the best job on track and not mind if people say, ‘Why aren’t you trying?’ because he knows that every day he tries his absolute hardest and is giving his absolute best every day.
“But he just knows what to listen to and what not to listen to and things like that.
“Big boots to fill and I will try a little bit. I’m sure everyone will try a little bit but it’s tough because he’s also a great guy and a great person.”