Sebastian Vettel enjoyed one of the biggest runs of dominance in Formula 1 history during his time with Red Bull.
Making his debut with BMW in 2007 in a one-off appearance at Indianapolis, the German moved to Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso in place of Scott Speed midway through the season. Vettel stayed for 2008, where he grabbed his and the team’s first pole position and win at the Italian Grand Prix.
He was promoted to the main Red Bull team in 2009 and narrowly missed out on the title to Jenson Button. After the turn of the decade, Vettel went on a storming run, winning the next four championships as he proved almost unstoppable.
Red Bull had not seen a driver accomplish such a feat until Max Verstappen repeated it with his fourth consecutive title in 2024. Alex Wurz says Vettel and Verstappen’s titles cannot be compared as they raced in different eras.
Vettel left Red Bull for Ferrari in 2015, but his impact on the team is still felt today. Verstappen wants Red Bull to go back to Vettel’s old livery for the 2025 season to spice up their current matte blue look.
Red Bull sacked ‘super’ Vitantonio Liuzzi in 2008 despite Dietrich Mateschitz being a big fan
Vettel’s first proper teammate in F1 was Vitantonio Liuzzi at Toro Rosso. The Italian had been with the Red Bull setup since they joined the sport in 2005 and was the Faenza-based team’s first number one driver.
Liuzzi had outperformed Speed before his sacking in 2007 and had been getting the better of a then-rookie Vettel after he replaced the American. But the German beat Liuzzi in the standings with his impressive fourth place at the Chinese Grand Prix.
For 2008, in his own words, the Italian was certain that he would remain with Toro Rosso due to his performances and the fact he was well-liked by Red Bull GmbH co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
However, two-time champion Gerhard Berger – who was Toro Rosso co-owner at the time – had ‘totally different ideas’ for the future and Liuzzi was ultimately replaced by Sebastien Bourdais.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links
Speaking with the Inside Line F1 Podcast, the Italian claimed that he would have finished his career at Red Bull had his relationship with the team not reached ‘breaking point’ due to Berger.
“My last year of Toro Rosso, Mr Mateschitz had decided to put Vettel instead of Scott Speed and I did a super season because I was super competitive in the second part of the season, also when Vettel was my teammate.
“But Berger had different ideas. Even if I was pretty sure that my position would have been confirmed for 2008 because in terms of pace, consistency, handling the team, working together with the team, [it] was a really great year. But Gerhard had totally different ideas let’s say, for the future.
“So, in a not the nicest way, we ended up breaking up due to Gerhard and it was like, say my breaking point with Red Bull. Because if not, I think I would have been with Red Bull for the whole of my career because Mr Mateschitz was really believing in me.”
Vitantonio Liuzzi retired from F1 in 2011
It was not just Mateschitz that was in support of the Italian during his time at Red Bull. Liuzzi had left Helmut Marko ‘super excited’ during testing in the same way Verstappen did with his speed and fearlessness behind the wheel.
But despite this, Liuzzi was left without a seat in 2008 as he left the Red Bull family entirely. He made his return to F1 midway through 2009 with Force India, after Giancarlo Fisichella was called up by Ferrari to replace the injured Felipe Massa.
Failing to score a point in his five races that year, Liuzzi was retained for 2010 by Force India alongside Adrian Sutil. He went on to have his best season in the sport as he scored 21 points and finished 15th in the standings.
Liuzzi left Force India and joined backmarkers Hispania – later called HRT – in 2011 and struggled at the back with a desperately underdeveloped car. The Italian left the team and F1 in 2012 as the Spanish outfit opted to sign Narain Karthikeyan over him.
Leave feedback about this