Sebastian Vettel brushed off suggestions he chose to retire from Formula 1 after allegedly being told he would be sacked by ambitious Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll.
The four-time world champion's F1 career will come to an end later this year. Explaining his decision, the German cited a desire to spend more time with his family and pursue other passions, such as his work raising awareness of climate change.
But there have been some suggestions that there was more to the story. One theory was that the team's billionaire owner Stroll, was irked by Vettel's vocal anti-oil stance, and that the racer was axed by the fashion tycoon.
Vettel has shut down that particular rumour, and insisted it was entirely his decision to walk away at this point in time. "No, I wasn't sacked," he told reporters at Monza. "A lot of things led me to my decision. The environmental concerns are only one reason. Seeing my kids grow up is another."
The 35-year-old has been accused of being a hypocrite in recent times, for campaigning for the environment while racing cars and flying across the globe for races. He admits that it might be a fair point for some to make, but all the same his passion for climate justice is pure.
"People say I am greenwashing," he added. "I am and we are, but I try to do what I can. I am fortunate enough to have money to implement solar panels on my roof. I can afford an electric car. I choose to drive to every race in Europe rather than fly, apart from Silverstone and Hungary.
"Coming to my views on the environment wasn't a trauma, a sudden thing. It's just that I have visited so many places around the world and seen changes. Now we don't have any snow. Forest fires are in Germany, France, London. There's drought in the summer."
And questioned about receiving his salary from teams sponsored by oil companies like Aramco, Vettel added: "To give you the truth, if they paid us 10 per cent of what we are getting we'd all still be here because we love driving. Yes, we are burning fuel to race, otherwise we wouldn't go anywhere. But it is not our job to sign up various sponsors along the way.
"I have lots of ideas and when I step away from the sport we will see what I can do with my money, though it is a very private question. I'd like to implement change and help kids, perhaps set something up – I could put money into that."
