In the final years before hanging up his helmet at the end of 2022, Sebastian Vettel has reinvented himself as Formula 1’s unlikely eco-warrior. Once the four-time world champion spent his days travelling the globe at 200 miles an hour and his nights shuttling across continents in team jets. Now, his public role is more about planting wildflowers on racing circuits, giving bees a home metres from the cars hurtling at over 200mph and lecturing on sustainability rather than chasing pole positions.

On his final visit to race in Montreal, Sebastian had taken up a Canadian green cause sporting a helmet bearing the slogans, “Stop mining tar sands” and “Canada’s climate crime.” The vast tar sands of Alberta and west of Quebec have been mined for decades for their oil reserves. This process has contaminated the local environment, endangered wildlife as well as displacing the indigenous population.

Alberta’s minister for energy Sonya Savage, who clearly supports the mining activities slammed Vettel’s position on social media. “I have seen a lot of hypocrisy over the years, but this one takes the cake,” Savage wrote noting Aston Martin’s title sponsor was the largest producer of oil. “A race car driver sponsored by Aston Martin, with financing from Saudi Aramco, complaining about the oil sands. Saudi’s Aramco has the largest daily oil production of all companies in the world. It is reputed to be the single largest contributor to global carbon emissions, of any company, since 1965.”

 

 

 

Vettel backs a V10 return

Yet, for all his talk of responsibility and environmental impact, Vettel has surprised many with his latest comments. At a time when Formula 1 prepares for its most dramatic regulation overhaul in 2026, with hybrid power units set to play an even bigger role, the German has suggested he would be open to a return of the very engines that Vettel was powered by when he debuted in the Sport back in 2007.

Since the introduction of the not so much loved hybrid power units in 2014, the idea of reviving naturally aspirated engines has hovered around Formula 1 like a stubborn ghost. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem added fuel to that fire earlier this year in China when he floated the prospect of bringing back V10s, a proposal that provoked raised eyebrows and discreet chuckles up and down the paddock.

Vettel, however, sees some merit in the notion. Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, he admitted that the sound and feel of those engines remain a vital part of the sport’s allure. “I was able to experience how a V10 feels and sounds,” he said. “That’s part of the show, part of the F1 experience. In the past, people didn’t just go to the racetrack to see who won. You also wanted to breathe in all the fascination around it.”

He added that although younger fans might not attach the same significance to the high-pitched wail of the V8’s or the mighty rumble of their predecessors the V10, but believes they would appreciate the return of those visceral sounds. “I do believe that a generation is growing up for which the V10 sound is no longer as important as it is for us, but which could still be enthusiastic about it,” he says

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F1 road relevance, less important in 2026

Formula 1 last used V10 engines in 2007, when Toro Rosso ran the final example before the V8 era began. By 2014, the hybrid turbo era had fully arrived, pushing the sport further towards efficiency and road relevance. For the FIA and Liberty Media, the 2026 rules — which will see an even greater reliance on electrical deployment alongside sustainable fuels — are meant to appeal directly to manufacturers. The message has appears to have been a success, with Audi, Cadillac, and Ford all signed up to the new formula.

But Vettel questions whether road relevance should remain the central pillar for Formula One. “The question is whether the engine formula must be series-relevant. I don’t think so,” he claims.  Instead, he wants the sport to place greater emphasis on entertainment and atmosphere. “It will go away from this transfer [to road cars] and more towards entertainment. You should stick to what you know, but it has to be done better in the interests of the environment.”

For Vettel, the solution lies in biofuels and sustainable practices that make even a return to older engine architectures possible without betraying the values of climate responsibility. “The shoes I buy must be made in such a way that it does not harm the environment and the production meets fair working conditions. The same applies to cars and motorsport events. It would be a shame if the motorsport we know ceased to exist.”

The tension at the heart of the debate is clear. Formula 1 thrives on its history as much as its cutting-edge technology. The sound of a highly tuned internal combustion engine is an instant time machine for fans of a certain age — transporting them back to Monza in 2000, Suzuka in 2004, or Vettel himself at Singapore in 2011. But the FIA insists the sport cannot afford to drift too far from its marketing narrative of relevance to the automotive industry.

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Vettel’s sustainable guilty pleasure

There is also a practical question. Could a sustainable biofuel-driven V10’s provide the same environmental credibility as the complex hybrids? Advocates like Vettel suggest yes, pointing out that renewable fuels can drastically cut emissions. Critics argue that the optics of returning to “old” engines would damage F1’s carefully cultivated story of innovation.

The Judge cannot help but smile at Vettel’s position. Once the champion who drove Adrian Newey’s Red Bulls to four consecutive titles, he now finds himself musing about footwear ethics and carbon footprints. Yet here he is, openly pining for the wail of a V10 — albeit wrapped in the comfort blanket of sustainability.

It is hard not to imagine Vettel at a United Nations conference one week, denouncing carbon emissions, and at Monza the next, misty-eyed as he recalls the vibration of a field of 20 19,000 rpm engine shaking the grandstands. Perhaps only Vettel could make the case that V10s can be simultaneously a guilty pleasure and an eco-friendly innovation.

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Road car relevance could be even greater

Still, there is wisdom in his words. Fans did not fall in love with the sport because the engines shared components with their sporty hatchbacks. They came for the noise, the spectacle, the gladiatorial theatre. If Formula 1 forgets that, then road relevance will mean little.

Further, the current bio fuels being developed are bespoke to each engine supplier. Should F1 appoint just one supplier with drop in bio fuels, this would be incredibly road car relevant, to the 2 billion combustion engines already in existence around the globe.

The 2026 regulations are locked in, but the FIA has left the door open to another review as early as 2029. By then, Formula 1 could once again be tempted to blend its past with its future — especially if biofuels deliver on their promise.

For now, Vettel’s suggestion stands as a reminder that the sport must balance progress with passion. The future of road cars may be electric-hybrid, but the past still whispers — or rather screams — in the ears of F1 fans and drivers alike.

 

 

 

MORE F1 NEWS – From papaya rocketship to rules reset. McLaren believe they can dominate in 2026

Formula One is emerging from an era where once the works based teams were dominant, with McLaren now proving you can be a power unit customer and yet beat the manufacturer’s team who designs the powertrains. In fact the legendary boss of the Woking based team said when they agreed an exclusive deal with Honda to supply their V6 turbo hybrid’s, that “have to have a strong OEM behind you which has the technology and capability to produce a winning engine”, to win F1 championships.

Ironically, the reunion of the once dominant pairing from the late 1980’s never fired on all cylinders, with Fernando Alonso famously describing his Japanese power unit as “very embarrassing.”  At the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix the Spaniard was easily overtaken by the Sauber of Marcu Ericsson on lap six of the Grand Prix, only for Alonso to sigh over team radio, saying “It feels like GP2. Embarrassing. Very embarrassing. I’ll do my best…”

In another twist of ironic fate, Fernando and his Aston Martin team will be running Honda power in 2026, and Fernando has been reminded countless times of his comments from Suzuka. “Now Honda wins a race and I receive a lot of messages that read: ‘GP2 engine wins now, it should be a sad day for you.’ I’m very happy [for Honda] , but the engine I had in the car was not the same as the one winning in Brazil [in November].”…. READ MORE