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Sebastian Vettel wants his former team Red Bull to handle the ongoing controversy regarding Christian Horner with “more transparency”.
An investigation arranged by Red Bull Austria last month dismissed allegations of inappropriate behaviour by team principal Horner towards a member of staff. However, following a purported leak of material related to the investigation, the staff member has appealed against the decision and indicated she is prepared to take the matter to an employment tribunal.
Vettel, who won four world championships at Horner’s team before leaving them at the end of 2014, said the secrecy surrounding the matter has taken attention away from the champions’ performance on-track.
“Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk since the beginning of the year,” he told Sky. “I think with these things, it’s always difficult to know everything. It would be nice if there was simply more transparency so that you really could have more of an opinion.
“It’s always difficult if you read one thing, then another thing and then the opposite. Now, things are going round in circles. The shame is that obviously Max [Verstappen] is doing a great job. The team, a lot of individuals that I remember from my time there, are doing a great job in the background and that’s sort of forgotten when the subject hovers around something else.”
Vettel retired from F1 at the end of 2022. He said the representation of women within the series is improving but more progress is needed.
“F1 is changing but it’s an old-fashioned business in many ways,” he said. “First of all, there weren’t many [women], but the numbers were going up.
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“[From] when I started [to] when I left, there was a lot more women in the paddock and a lot more women not just following the sport but also working in the sport. So I think there’s a positive change. But I think, really like everywhere else, there’s still room for improvement.”
The four-times world champion tested for the Porsche Penske World Endurance Championship team last week amid speculation he will join their third car to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours this year.
“I was curious,” he said, “I wanted to see how it feels. It’s obviously a different discipline. It’s still racing, but it’s different cars, different disciplines.
“But [there’s] lots of things that excite me, lots of different things, not necessarily just looking at something behind the wheel, but also outside the car.”
Asked whether the test tempted him to return to racing, Vettel said: “I am, and I’m not. I’m obviously also looking for lots of other things and there’s lots of other things that do interest me outside racing.”
He gave little indication he is seriously considering a return to F1, though admitted he had conversations with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who is looking to hire a replacement for Lewis Hamilton at his team next year.
“I’m speaking to Toto, I don’t know if that qualifies as Mercedes, but about other things,” said Vettel. “There’s ideas that I have, events that I’m planning going forward. So I did speak to a lot of other team principals as well, and not only about racing.”
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