Sebastian Vettel refused to answer questions about having suddenly stopped wearing his "weather crime" helmet.
Sebastian Vettel refused to answer questions about having suddenly stopped wearing his "climate crime" helmet.
In Montreal, the four-time world champion was criticized by Alberta's energy minister Sonya Savage after he attacked the mining of "tar sands."
He rode a colorful bicycle into the paddock of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve wearing a T-shirt with a message about "Canada's climate crime."
Vettel then participated in free practice and qualifying with a matching helmet telling Canada to "stop mining the tar sands."
Minister Savage accused the German of hypocrisy as a Formula One driver gobbling up gasoline "with funding from Saudi Aramco," which has "the largest daily oil production of any company in the world."
"It is reportedly the largest contributor to global carbon emissions among all companies since 1965," she added.
Suddenly and without explanation, Vettel returned to his white helmet with the colors of Germany in Sunday's race.
When asked about it by the German broadcaster , the Aston Martin driver replied, "Are there any other questions?"
Vettel also stated to the : "I don't want to say anything about it now, but I always have more than one helmet."
He also criticized Minister Savage for making his climate activism "personal."
"I'm a bit disappointed that politicians go to the personal level because it doesn't concern me, it concerns the bigger div" Vettel commented.
"Yes, I am a hypocrite doing what I do for a living or doing what I love, but there are solutions for the future to make it more sustainable."