Sebastian Vettel has described the epiphany he had which made him focus less on Formula 1 success and more on wanting to help make the world a better place.
Vettel retires from F1 as the winner of 53 races and four world championships. But in his later years, he admits he became less obsessed with success and more focused on the impact he was having on the world – and how he could use his platform to help.
In what he described as his "last message" before embarking on the next chapter of his life, Vettel spoke to fans in a social media livestream. Wearing a black T-shirt printed with a photo of Earth, he described what had made him think more about the bigger picture.
"When I was young, when I was 25, I didn't see that it was a big problem, because it didn't impact upon me," explained the German. "The life that I was living, I was interested in racing, in success. Really, then a couple of things happened in my life.
"I chose, together with my wife, to become a father. At 26 years old my first daughter was born, and a year after our second daughter was born. After that, my father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a year and a half later.
"I was confronted with the future – holding my children in my arms for the very first time, and at the same time being confronted with death, the end of life. It really made me reflect upon my life and the future that is ahead of us, and the world we live in.
"I realised the privilege that I have, living the life that I do, having so much joy in what I do and at the same time getting paid a lot of money for it. Being born in Germany, I had a lot of opportunities – I worked hard throughout my career, but a lot of people work hard every day and they don't have these privileges and choices, nor do they have anywhere near the sufficient pay they deserve.
"Mine was a unique position to be in, and once I realised that I really though about how I could use the voice I have to try to address the things that are important for all of us. Looking at our world, our climate, I think our world is rapidly changing and it requires us to all consider what we can do.
"On my side, I wanted to be less part of the problem and more part of the solution. Looking at the big gains, it's how do I travel from race to race. Because of time efficiency and comfort I fell into the habit of travelling around the world on private jets, so I stopped that completely and felt good about it.
"I started to question my nutrition – what do I eat and where does the food come from? I started to think where to get my energy from, how do I consume? Which clothes do I buy? There are so many things."
Vettel went on to call upon his fellow drivers to pick up where he has left off with his campaigning, and asked fans to take any little steps they can to help fight the climate crisis. He added: "I don't want to point fingers at anybody and say this is what you should do.
"But I really tried to speak also to the other drivers to emphasise that we are in this unique position to have an impact on our climate That we are back to the wall, and that it's time to change and reconsider our actions, thinking of future generations going forward.
"Even though I could afford to look the other way, I think we are all a stage where we can't look away any more. News comes and goes, but news about our world and the climate crisis just grow bigger. It's about us as humans and as a species – we have to implement changes."
