Sebastien Ogier on Sebastian Vettel

The championship’s official website recently launched a new F1 Icons section, where celebrities from other sports talk about the stars of Formula 1. This time her guest was Sebastien Ogier, eight-time World Rally Champion, and his column is dedicated to his namesake, Sebastian Vettel.

In Sebastian’s career, it is quite difficult to single out some of the most notable moments. Becoming world champion is a remarkable achievement in itself, but winning four titles in a row is something special. This is probably what impresses me the most.

He won his last title in 2013, when I became world champion for the first time, and at that time, of course, Sebastian was one of those whose successes inspired me. But not only that: he was one of those Sebastians who achieved dominance – Loeb in rally and Vettel in Formula 1. And I dreamed of being next!

As a child I considered F1 the pinnacle of circuit racing. My father was a fan of Ayrton Senna at the time and we went to Monaco every year, although we only watched training on Thursdays, because in those years it was free on a certain part of the track. In general, my passion began with this.

But back to Cebu.

His career was incredibly successful, playing for teams like Red Bull and Ferrari. Of course it has become a bit more difficult for him in recent years, but I think he deserved more in terms of results. But this does not detract from its performance.

Of course motor racing is a team sport and being surrounded by the right people is always the key to success. But I also think you have to be a good leader for this, and I think Sebastian has such qualities, he knows how to motivate people, knows how to get 100 percent support for the team and set everyone up so that everyone tries to give their all .

But I also understood his decision to end his career because he wants to spend more time with his family and be a good father. I mean, he’s a great athlete, but I also admire him as a person. It was nice to see how many people praised him last year when he retired.

I’m a little older than Sebastian and when we started racing, environmental issues weren’t as relevant as they are now. But it will affect us more and more, and we want to do something for future generations – we both have children, and it’s time to think about them.

Sebastian Vettel, with his authority as a four-time world champion, is of course easier to speak out on these subjects. But this is an important condition for becoming a leader of public opinion. Confidence in Vettel or Lewis Hamilton is much higher, but not everyone takes such an active position.

Sebastian’s voice, when he was still in Formula 1, was quite loud, and if someone starts talking about such things, they certainly listen to him.

I haven’t spoken to Seb in a few months now, but our wives talk way, way more than we do all the time. But we always promise each other that we should definitely meet and start something together. I have no doubt that our next meeting will take place soon. It’s funny, by the way, that I’m always grateful to Seb for acting as a matchmaker.

I don’t remember if it was our first meeting or not, but one of the first. It was at the Race of Champions in 2012 – then he played for the German team together with Michael Schumacher, and Roman Grosjean and I represented France.

At the end of the season let’s say everyone relaxes, so after the race we had a rather noisy party with all kinds of drinks. Since then I constantly joke that it was thanks to Seb that everything led to us having a relationship with my future wife!

Seb and I often discussed the possibility of switching cars, and a few years ago I even got to test drive in Formula 1. It was an incredible experience, although we never switched cars.

I have no doubt that Sebastian could have been successful in rallying because he has excellent racing skills and is a smart lad. I do not know what he will do now, but it is absolutely certain that he enjoys the company of his family and is no longer ready to part with her for a long time.

But I am sure he will continue to benefit from Formula 1 – regardless of whether he returns to the wheel or not.