Sebastian Vettel has made a rare appearance before this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The four-time world champion oversaw the ‘Race 4 Women’ karting event in Jeddah.
Vettel has largely enjoyed the privacy of his retirement, having bowed out of F1 at the end of 2022. He travelled to the Japanese GP a year later to promote a biodiversity initiative, and was also at Imola and Interlagos last season to mark the anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s passing.
Most recently, the former Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin driver took part in the Race of Champions in March. He competed alongside Mick Schumacher, who effectively became his protege in F1.
Inevitably, the media jump at any opportunity to ask the four-time world champion about the ongoing F1 season. Vettel has discussed Lewis Hamilton’s start at Ferrari, having experienced the unique pressures of the Scuderia himself.
Sebastian Vettel calls George Russell ‘superb’ in latest praise before Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Speaking on F1TV’s Weekend Warm-Up show before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Vettel once again spoke fondly of George Russell. It’s clear that he’s a huge fan of the Mercedes driver.
Russell enters the weekend fourth in the championship, 14 points off leader Lando Norris. He’s scored three podiums in four races and made the top five in every competitive session.
Vettel believes that the Englishman, who’s never led the standings, can contend for the title this year. He sees it as a four-way fight with the two McLarens and Max Verstappen.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Lando Norris |
77 |
| 2 |
Oscar Piastri |
74 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
69 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
63 |
“Of course, McLaren has a bit of an edge – and both of them are at a very high level,” he said. “It’s exciting to see Max in the fight, even though the last race maybe was a bit down.
“George is very consistent, and driving superb this year so far. These four, I think they’re very close together and probably running for the championship.”
Vettel’s admiration for Russell was obvious last year when he picked the former Williams driver to be the sport’s next new champion. By the sounds of it, he still has some faith in that prediction.
What George Russell has said ‘off the record’ about his Mercedes contract
Despite his ‘superb’ showings, Russell still doesn’t have a contract for 2026. There has been speculation that Mercedes could look to sign Verstappen.
However, reports this week claim Russell is edging closer to a new Mercedes contract. He could continue alongside the highly promising rookie Kimi Antonelli.
According to Julianne Cerasoli, Russell has played down this story ‘off the record’. He’s wary of making a long-term commitment before he sees how Mercedes perform under the new rules cycle.
Cerasoli said on the PitPass F1 podcast: “What I know he said off the record was that he doesn’t really understand where all this talk is coming from.
“And he doesn’t understand why drivers would want to commit with a longer contract now just before there’s a change of regulation, without knowing who’s going to come out on top, and also because contracts don’t seem to have a lot of value in Formula 1, so why would you commit?”
