Vettel

Heppenheim, West Germany, 3 July 1987. Sebastian Vettel was born to Norbert and Heike Vettel, the middle child between two older sisters, Melanie and Stefanie, and a younger brother, Fabian, who also became a racing driver. He has described himself as “terrible” at school, though he passed his Abitur with a respectable grade. His childhood heroes were “the three Michaels”: Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jackson. He once admitted he wanted to be a singer like Jackson until he realised he did not have the voice. Vettel began karting in 1995, winning several championships before moving to single-seaters in 2003. That year, he dominated the German Formula BMW championship, taking eighteen victories from twenty races. He progressed to the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2005, finishing fifth and earning “rookie of the year” honours, and was runner-up in the series the following year to Paul di Resta. A test with Williams in September 2005, awarded for his Formula BMW success, opened the first door to Formula 1.

At the age of 11, Vettel joined the Red Bull Junior Team, a program that would shape his entire career. He began karting in 1995, winning several championships before moving to single-seaters in 2003. That year, he dominated the German Formula BMW championship, winning 18 of 20 races. In 2005, he moved to the Formula 3 Euroseries with ASL Mucke Motorsport, finishing fifth and earning “Rookie of the Year” honors. A test with Williams as a reward for his Formula BMW success led to further opportunities with BMW Sauber. The following year, he finished runner-up in the Euroseries to Paul di Resta. A brief foray into the World Series by Renault in 2006 saw him win on debut at Misano, though a serious finger injury at Spa-Francorchamps threatened his season. Defying expectations, he raced the following weekend at the Masters of Formula 3 in Zandvoort, finishing third and impressing team principal Frédéric Vasseur with his resilience. These performances cemented his path to a Formula One debut with BMW Sauber in 2007.

He arrived in Formula 1 at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix as a 20-year-old substitute for the injured Robert Kubica at BMW Sauber, scoring a point on his debut. A full seat at Toro Rosso in 2008 delivered his first victory at the Italian Grand Prix – at the time, the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix. That performance earned him a promotion to Red Bull Racing for 2009, where he finished runner-up to Jenson Button. The following year, at 23, he became the youngest World Drivers’ Champion in history, a record he still holds.

Vettel proceeded to dominate the sport, winning four consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013. Across those seasons, he amassed 39 victories, 45 pole positions, and 22 fastest laps, driving the dominant Adrian Newey-designed RB cars. His 2013 campaign included a record nine consecutive wins to close the season. After a switch to Ferrari in 2015, he finished runner-up in 2017 and 2018 but could not secure a fifth title. He spent his final two seasons with Aston Martin before retiring at the end of 2022. In 299 starts, he finished with 53 wins, 122 podiums, 57 poles, and 38 fastest laps – numbers that place him among the sport’s statistical elite.

Between 2010 and 2013, Sebastian Vettel produced a run of dominance that the sport had rarely seen and has not matched since. Driving for Red Bull, he won four consecutive World Drivers’ Championship titles, a feat achieved previously only by Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. Across those 66 races, Vettel stood on the podium 44 times and visited the top step on 31 occasions. He claimed 35 pole positions, often turning qualifying into a solo exhibition of precision. The 2013 season was his statistical apex: he won 13 of 19 Grands Prix, including a record nine in a row from the Belgian Grand Prix through the season finale in Brazil. At 26, he became the youngest four-time champion in Formula One history, a record that still stands.

He lives in Thurgovia, Switzerland, among other racing drivers, with his wife of childhood, Hanna Prater, whom he married in a private ceremony in early 2019. The couple has three children: Emilie, Matilda, and a son born in November 2019 whose name has not been publicly disclosed. Vettel has described himself as competitive, private, and impatient. Beyond racing, he voiced the character Sebastian Schnell in the German dub of Cars 2 and a voice command assistant in the German and Italian dubs of Cars 3. A supporter of German football club Eintracht Frankfurt, he also collects Beatles records, citing Abbey Road as a favorite and “Drive My Car” as his preferred song. In 2016, Forbes estimated his annual income at $41 million. Kimi Räikkönen, his Ferrari teammate from 2015 to 2018, remains a close friend. Vettel speaks English, French, and Italian in addition to his native German. He created his Instagram account in July 2022—having long avoided social media—with his first post announcing his retirement from Formula One at the end of that season. He has spoken openly about the normality of self-doubt in professional sport and criticized the stigma around mental health, arguing it should be discussed as freely as physical health.

Sebastian Vettel stepped away from Formula One at the end of 2022 with no immediate plans to return to the cockpit. He has since focused on environmental advocacy, investing in sustainable fuel projects and participating in events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed using carbon-neutral synthetic fuels. In 2023, he drove his championship-winning RB7 on a demonstration lap powered by a synthetic fuel developed by Saudi Arabian company Aramco, using the platform to call for more rapid development of carbon-neutral technologies within motorsport. He has also spoken publicly about biodiversity, bee conservation, and the importance of protecting natural habitats, themes that have become central to his public identity. Vettel has not ruled out a return to racing in some form but has stated repeatedly that any future involvement must align with his personal values regarding sustainability and climate change. He continues to live in Thurgovia, Switzerland, with his wife Hanna and their three children.

Vettel lives in Thurgovia, Switzerland, where he has remained largely out of the public eye since retiring from Formula One at the end of the 2022 season. He married childhood friend Hanna Prater in a private ceremony in early 2019; the couple have three children. In July 2022, having long eschewed social media, he created an Instagram account—his first post was the announcement of his retirement. He has spoken about the normality of self-doubt in professional sport and criticized the stigma around discussing mental health, arguing it should be treated as openly as physical health. Forbes estimated his annual income at $41 million in 2016. Beyond occasional appearances at historic events, he has not announced any permanent role in motorsport management or broadcasting, and his current activities remain unstructured relative to his former career.

No driver of the modern era reshaped the definition of dominance quite like Sebastian Vettel did between 2010 and 2013. At 23 years and 134 days, he became the youngest World Drivers' Champion in history, a record that still stands. Over those four consecutive title-winning seasons with Red Bull, he amassed 39 of his 53 career victories and 44 of his 57 pole positions, a statistical peak that places him among the sport's most formidable qualifiers. His 122 podiums from 300 starts reflect a consistency that spanned two decades and five teams. The German Sportspersonality of the Year award in 2010 recognized his impact beyond the paddock, while the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sporting honor, cemented his status at home. Yet his legacy is not purely numerical. Vettel's outspoken advocacy for environmental causes, LGBTQ+ rights, and mental health destigmatization—rare for a driver of his stature—introduced a new dimension of public responsibility to the modern champion. He remains the youngest four-time champion in F1 history, a benchmark that, as of 2025, no driver has approached.