Sebastian Vettel was the first driver to take a position after the conflict in Russia and Ukraine , explaining that he refused to travel to the Russian country to compete in the Grand Prix scheduled for the second half of the year.
The Aston Martin driver gave his opinion on the international situation, even saying that he got up every day looking to find out what was happening and being very critical.
After completing pre-season testing in Barcelona, he traveled to Bahrain for the final week of testing, where he took a photo with the rest of the grid wearing T-shirts and holding a banner advocating an end to the war.
On the first morning on the asphalt of Sakhir he surprised everyone by using a different helmet design, shedding the German flag that has characterized him so much since his time at Ferrari to include that of Ukraine . In addition, he added a series of flags at the bottom of that security element, but on the last day of testing he removed them.
The German explained the reasons for this: “I wish I hadn’t come up with the design because it wasn’t necessary. So, it’s a strong signal to show support.”
“We all came together on Wednesday as we thought we could take the opportunity to show that we are united and take a stand,” Vettel said. “It’s horrible what’s happening and it’s still… it’s like a nightmare and we don’t seem to wake up.”
“The reason I chose this design for my helmet is because it’s quite simple and effective, and I decided to do it this way,” continued the German. “Around the bottom was a little swatch where I wanted to have all the flags in the world, but apparently I didn’t control all of them.”
“There were some issues, minor, and I removed the little sticker because some people got upset, which I think is a mistake… the message is that obviously the whole world should be and is united, or so I think, in fighting the war,” said the four-time world champion.
“We grew up in times of peace and I think we appreciate it a lot, so it’s like a nightmare, a shock to see the images and see what’s happening when listening to the news,” said the German, who is very committed to social causes, as already could be seen at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix wearing a shirt supporting the LGBTQ+ community in a country where belonging to it is severely punished.
Gallery: this is Sebastian Vettel’s helmet in support of Ukraine in the 2022 F1 season
Photo by: JMD Jens Munser Designs
Photo by: JMD Jens Munser Designs
Photo by: JMD Jens Munser Designs
