According to Otmar Szafnauer, Alpine team principal and former director of business planning at Honda F1, there was a two-week window in which Sebastian Vettel was available to sign with the Japanese manufacturer when he was still a young novice.
Szafnauer has always had a good relationship with Vettel and played a key role in getting the German driver to sign for Aston Martin last year, after having talks until 2020. Late last month, Vettel announced that he will retire. from F1 to the end of the season.
When asked in Hungary to tell his best story about Vettel, Szafnauer revealed that he once hoped to pass a young Sebastian, then linked to Red Bull and BMW, to Honda, but that sports director Gil de Ferran had taken it too long.
“Seb came up to me and said, ‘I have a two-week window,’ and he was young, he was I don’t know, 19 or so,” Szafnauer recalled.
“‘I have a two-week window in which I am out of contract with both Red Bull and, I believe, BMW. Are you interested in signing me?'”.
“He was an unknown person at the time. But I thought, ‘Yeah, this guy is good! A two-week window!'”.
“So I went to Gil and I said, ‘We have two weeks to sign Seb Vettel.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him.’ ‘What do you mean you have been eyeing him? weeks! ‘”.
“Anyway, we didn’t hire him.”
Jenson Button, Honda RA107
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Vettel then made his F1 debut with BMW Sauber in the 2007 United States Grand Prix, replacing the injured Robert Kubica, before getting a full-time seat with Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso, later in the same. year.
This paved the way for Vettel to become the youngest winner of an F1 race at Monza in 2008 with the team from Faenza, before claiming his first world title in 2010 with Red Bull.
Szafnauer, on the other hand, left Honda in mid-2008, which proved to be the Japanese manufacturer’s last season with a factory team. At the end of the year he pulled the plug and Brawn GP took over the legacy, winning both titles in 2009, before becoming the official Mercedes team starting in 2010. “
Szafnauer and Vettel had talks until 2020 to switch to what was then known as Racing Point, including a famous drive to a service station during the British Grand Prix. The team principal then told about their meetings during the negotiation.
“During Covid, he felt more comfortable not going to a hotel where he thought he could catch Covid rather than spending time at our house every time he came to England, because everyone took the test every day, so everyone knew to be negative, “Szafnauer said.
“And every time he came to us, he took home-made bread with him, which he had made in Switzerland, in this little bag he carried with him. Every time he came, he had to bring his own homemade bread. Fantastic! say, who else does it? “.
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