Sebastian Vettel has once again been called a “hypocrite”, following on from his climate change talk at the recent Canadian Grand Prix.
Vettel spoke out against the “climate crime” of “mining tar sands” in Canada, something which has since been deemed hypocritical by Alberta energy minister Sonya Savage.
Savage called Vettel out over his climate change antics, explaining that despite the four-time World Champion demanding action, he is being financed to race by Saudi Aramco.
Saudi Aramco is a Saudi Arabian oil company, and is one of the biggest and wealthiest companies in the world.
The company are title partners of both Formula 1 itself, and the Aston Martin F1 Team.
In fact, Aramco and Aston Martin’s ties are set to grow ever tighter, with team and carmaker owner Lawrence Stroll set to sell 16.7% of Aston Martin to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
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The deal is rumoured to be worth around $775 million, according to the Financial Times.
Stroll explained that the reason for selling part of the company was to “deal with the God-damned debt”.
Despite all the calls of Vettel being a hypocrite, the German has continued with his fight of supporting climate change and bid to get others to join the increasingly important fight.
Fellow German and 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg, believes Vettel continues his support of climate change with the “deepest conviction”.
“I would have expected that it would be impossible to convey his messages to people with credibility,” the retired Mercedes driver told Eurosport.
“But Sebastian does it with the deepest conviction, and I think that’s very nice.”
However, Rosberg explained that he understands why his German compatriot is called a hypocrite.
The former Mercedes driver admitted that Vettel “contributes to climate change” through being a racing driver, but that it’s “commendable” that he’s attempting to fix a problem he’s partly caused.
“Racing involves a conflict,” he said. “On the one hand, he is emotionally bound in the fight to support the environment with many actions.
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“On the other hand, he himself contributes to climate change with his travelling and the burning of fuel. And he would like to pursue this passion for a few more years.
“But I still think it is commendable that he is so committed in this area, and it comes across as authentic,” Rosberg added.
“Giving up your greatest passion would be asking a lot of him. But if he is committed to the fight against climate change and keeps going at the same time, for me that’s fine.”