Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . Vettel won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from to with Red Bull, and remains the youngest-ever World Drivers' Champion; he won 53 Grands Prix across 16 seasons.
Born and raised in Heppenheim, Vettel began competitive kart racing aged eight. After a successful karting career—culminating in his victory at the junior European Championship in 2001—Vettel graduated to junior formulae. He started his career in Formula BMW ADAC, dominating the championship in 2004 with 18 wins from 20 races. Vettel then progressed to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2005, taking several victories and finishing runner-up to Paul di Resta the following season. A test driver for BMW Sauber since , Vettel made his Formula One debut at the 2007 United States Grand Prix. Vettel replaced Scott Speed at Toro Rosso after the for the remainder of the season, as part of the Red Bull Junior Team. Retaining his seat for , Vettel achieved his maiden pole position and victory at the to become the then-youngest driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Vettel was promoted to parent team Red Bull in , taking several wins as he finished runner-up to Jenson Button in the World Drivers' Championship.
After winning the title-deciding in , Vettel became the youngest-ever Formula One World Drivers' Champion, aged 23. He won his second and third championships in and , dominating the former and winning the latter amidst a close title battle with Fernando Alonso. Vettel set several records in , winning 13 Grands Prix—including a then-record nine consecutive victories—to claim his fourth consecutive title with Red Bull. After a winless campaign, Vettel signed for Ferrari, replacing Alonso to partner Kimi Räikkönen; he took several wins in his debut season, finishing third in the standings. Following another winless season in , Vettel emerged as the closest challenger to Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, finishing runner-up in and after achieving several victories across both campaigns. Partnered by Charles Leclerc for , Vettel took the final win of his career at the before leaving Ferrari at the end of the season. Vettel joined the recently established Aston Martin in , where he scored his final podium finish at the .
Vettel retired at the end of the season, having achieved the fourth-most wins (53), fourth-most pole positions (57), fifth-most fastest laps (38), and fourth-most podium finishes (122) in Formula One. He won the Race of Champions in 2015, further winning the Nations' Cup six consecutive times from 2007 to 2012, representing Germany alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel is also a prominent environmental and climate activist; since 2023, he has been co-owner of the Germany SailGP Team.
Early life Vettel was born on 3 July 1987 in Heppenheim, West Germany, to Norbert and Heike Vettel. He has one younger brother, Fabian, a racing driver, and two older sisters: Melanie, a dental technician, and Stefanie, a physiotherapist for children with disabilities. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was "terrible" at school, but he passed his Abitur at Heppenheim's with a respectable grade. His childhood heroes were "The three Michaels": Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. He mentioned that he wanted to be a singer like Jackson, but realised that he did not have the voice. Vettel is also a fan of the Beatles, collecting several records, including Abbey Road and his favourite song being "Drive My Car". In an interview on Top Gear, he stated that he is a fan of British comedy such as Little Britain and Monty Python's Life of Brian.
Junior racing career Karting (1995–2002) Vettel began karting at the age of three, and began racing in karts series in 1995 at the age of eight. He was accepted into the Red Bull Junior Team in 1998, and won various titles, such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2001.
Lower formulae (2003–2007) 2003–2004: Formula BMW Vettel was promoted to open-wheel cars in 2003, and was given a chance by Derrick Walker to test a Reynard Motorsport Champ Car in a two-day private test at the Homestead–Miami Speedway. A year later, he won the 2004 Formula BMW ADAC championship with 18 victories from 20 races.
2005–2007: Formula Three and Formula Renault Vettel drove for ASL Mücke Motorsport in the 2005 Formula 3 Euro Series. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 63 points and won the Rookie Cup. He tested for the Williams Formula One team later that year as a reward for his Formula BMW success. Vettel then went on to test for the BMW Sauber Formula One team.
Vettel was promoted to test driver for BMW Sauber in 2006, and participated in the 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series, finishing as runner-up. He also competed in the 2006 Formula Renault 3.5 Series, where he finished first and second at Misano in his first two races. In the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying debris following an accident, and he was expected to be out for several weeks. Nevertheless, he managed to compete in the 2006 Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, where he finished in sixth place.
Vettel competed in the 2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series, and took his first win at the Nürburgring. He led the championship when he was called up permanently by the BMW Sauber Formula One team.
Formula One career BMW Sauber reserve driver (2006–2007) 2006: Test debut Vettel became BMW Sauber's third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica replaced Jacques Villeneuve as second driver for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. On his testing debut, Vettel set the fastest time in the second Friday free practice. Vettel became the then-youngest Formula One driver to participate in a Grand Prix weekend at 19 years and 53 days. He also set a record for the shortest time before first career fine, collecting his first fine in nine seconds by exceeding the pitlane speed limit on the way to the track. In his second testing session at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, he set the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions.
2007: Debut Vettel was confirmed as BMW's test driver for . Following Kubica's crash at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel was named his replacement at the 2007 United States Grand Prix. He started in seventh position and finished in eighth to become the then-youngest driver to score a point in Formula One.
Toro Rosso (2007–2008)
2007–2008: Maiden race win and rise to prominence BMW released him in July 2007 to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso, replacing Scott Speed from the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, as Vettel was already under contract to Red Bull Racing. It was also announced that he would drive for Toro Rosso in alongside Sébastien Bourdais.
In the rain-affected at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third, behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for his and the team's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions, forcing both cars to retire. Webber said after the race: "It's kids isn't it. Kids with not enough experience – you do a good job and then they fuck it all up". Vettel was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car.
Vettel finished a career-best fourth a week later at the , having started 17th on the grid while in mixed conditions. He was tipped by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz as one of the sport's big future stars: "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential [...] He is fast, he is intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."
After four races of the season, Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. At the , Vettel scored his first points of the season with a fifth-place finish, after qualifying 17th. Toro Rosso's technical director Giorgio Ascanelli explained that something changed at the in Valencia: "Suddenly Vettel understood something about how to drive an F1 car quickly. It made a huge difference – not only to the speed he could unlock but also to his ability to do so consistently."
At the wet , Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix, aged 21 years and 74 days. He led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. It would also be Toro Rosso's only win. Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest pole-sitter. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said: "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win World Championships. He's a cool guy". His victory led the German media to dub him "Baby Schumi".
Vettel was named 2008 Rookie of the Year at the Autosport Awards.
Red Bull (2009–2014)
2009: Championship contender
At the start of the season, Vettel replaced the retired David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing. He began strongly at the , running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place in the latter stages forced both to retire. He went on to take pole position and the race win at ; Red Bull Racing's maiden pole and win.
Further wins followed in Great Britain, Japan and Abu Dhabi. He won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position, leading every lap. Vettel won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the first ever day-night race, to finish second in the World Drivers' Championship standings behind Jenson Button. He also scored his third fastest lap of the year, drawing him level with teammate Mark Webber. However, as Vettel had more second fastest laps, he won the 2009 DHL Fastest Lap Award.
2010: Youngest World Champion Vettel took the first pole position of the season at the . He led most of the race but as a result of a spark plug failure, Vettel finished in fourth place. At the , Vettel was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He took his first win of the season in Malaysia.
In Monaco, Vettel made it a Red Bull 1–2 with him second and Webber first. Both were equal on points in the standings, with Webber first based on total wins. At the , Vettel was running second behind Webber when he made a passing move on his teammate. The two collided, putting Vettel out of the race, with neither driver accepting responsibility for the collision.
At the , both Vettel and Webber's cars were fitted with a new front wing design. Vettel's wing was damaged in the third practice session, and Webber's sole surviving example was removed and given to his teammate. Vettel qualified in first place, but suffered a puncture. He finished seventh while Webber took the victory. In Japan, he qualified on pole ahead of Webber and went on to win with a lights-to-flag victory. Aged 23 years and 98 days, Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix driver to win at the same track on two occasions. At the inaugural , Vettel led the first 45 laps before retiring with engine failure, handing victory to championship rival Fernando Alonso.
With the 1–2 finish at the , Vettel and Webber secured Red Bull Racing's first World Constructors' Championship. Vettel went into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi with a 15-point deficit to Alonso and a 7-point gap to Webber. He won the Grand Prix from pole to become the youngest World Drivers' Champion in the sport's history, as Alonso only finished in seventh place. Following John Surtees in the season and James Hunt in , this was the third time in Formula One history that the title winner had not topped the championship table until after the last race.
2011: Dominant second title