Sebastian Vettel, who announced that he will leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season, has been director of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association) since 2010, the year in which he won his first world title.
He is currently one of three directors, alongside Mercedes driver George Russell and Anastasia Fowle , who is also the organization’s legal adviser. In addition to its president, former F1 driver Alex Wurz.
At Thursday’s pre-event press conference at the Hungaroring, Esteban Ocon said Vettel was “a great ambassador for all the drivers” and that he “raised his voice when there were concerns about our safety and about any sort of thing that didn’t seem right to him.” right”.
Ocon added: “In that sense, I hope he doesn’t stray too far from the paddock.”
When Motorsport.com asked the drivers if Vettel ‘s replacement in the GPDA should be just as forthcoming and if there was such a candidate among the current drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas had their say on the matter, acknowledging that they would like to see the German pilot kept that position.
“Maybe we’ll see if he wants to continue,” said the McLaren driver. “I think he has done a very good job.
“Seb is a guy who a lot of times just tells it like it is… I don’t want to say he does it aggressively, he’s just very honest and direct,” Ricciardo added.
“And on issues like safety, you don’t have to beat around the bush. So I think his character and his way of being is very positive to be in this position.”
“We’ll see, obviously it’s very new news for us. I guess we’ll discuss it internally and think who is a good substitute,” Ricciardo said.
Alfa Romeo’s Bottas said: “I think it’s quite difficult to replace Seb in this kind of role because of the way he is. He’s honest and direct, he doesn’t spin things, he just tells them like they are and questions a lot of things. aloud”.
“I hope he continues. I don’t know if he feels like it, but it would be great if he continued,” added the Finn.
An example of Vettel campaigning for driver safety, even on track, occurred at the 2021 Belgian GP, before and after Lando Norris crashed his McLaren at Eau Rouge after rain intensified on the Q3, incident in which Vettel stopped to see if the Briton was unharmed or if he needed any help.
Recently, the Aston Martin driver was fined €25,000 for leaving the drivers’ briefing at the Austrian GP, as he was unhappy that the focus was on issues such as track limits, in instead of focusing on the biggest problems pilots face.
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