Vettel defends himself against accusations of 'hypocrisy' amid climate crisis: "I do what I can

As an advocate of energy sustainability and a Formula 1 driver, Sebastian Vettel is constantly asked about the incompatibility between what he thinks about the environment and what he does for a living. This dubiousness even makes the four-time world champion question whether he should continue his career in the world's top motor racing category.

Recently, too, Vettel was the target of heavy criticism from the Energy Minister of the State of Alberta, Canada, Sonya Savage. When he arrived in Montreal wearing a T-shirt with the messages "Stop Mining Tar Sands" and "Canada's Climate Crime", denouncing oil extraction in the Canadian state, the German was in the eye of the hurricane. "I've seen a lot of hypocrisy over the years, but this one is too much: a racing driver sponsored by Aston Martin, with funding from Saudi Aramco, complaining about the oil sands," the politician said.

Critics, like Savage, don't think twice about pointing out alleged 'hypocrisy' by Vettel. "Why didn't he speak out about the climate crisis 10 years ago? What's changed?", things like that. Given the context, then, the four-time world champion himself tried to answer such questions and justified himself in an interview with The Race portal.

"10 years ago, the problem was already there. I don't think I was a pig in the sense of throwing plastic bottles around and living that lifestyle. But there are a lot of things that I wasn't aware of. And simply by not understanding that at the time, maybe I didn't care much about the climate crisis or didn't make the decisions I make today," Vettel said.

"You can say, well, that was a luxury I had. But if you look at the whole picture, I feel it's not fair to the current generation that they no longer have the freedom to just enjoy their youth. They are much more aware of what is going on in the world and they can see what is happening and what is coming, often crying out for help. Even though you deserve to have your youth for yourself, to explore, to enjoy - to be young - this luxury doesn't exist anymore. And I don't think it's fair. But that's where we are (with respect to the climate crisis). And it's only going to get worse if we don't act now," said the four-time champion.

Just as in the past, Vettel again pointed out that, despite this fine line between what he advocates and the occupation he has, he can sleep with a clear head when he knows he is doing what is possible in favor of greater energy sustainability.

"I'm not a saint and I'm not here to tell people what to do. I take action as much as I can control. But it's not to educate you or tell you that just because I do this, you should do that too. That's why I'm very cautious about saying things. I take the car, instead of taking the plane, to go to the GP's. I took the plane (in the past) because it is much more comfortable, it takes an hour, I can land near the track, I have the luxury of choice. Now I don't. But I'm not saying, with this, how you should go to the races. That's what I mean: these are the things that I can control and I have an impact. I have the time to think about these things, I have the luxury to put solar panels on the roof of my house, switch energy suppliers. If you live in an apartment, pay rent, you don't have that luxury. You can tell your landlord to change and take care of the future and so on, but if he chooses not to, for whatever reason, it's not your choice. It's not in your hands," he acknowledged.

"It's not easy. But I think (my interest) is that maybe I have that kind of Formula One brain of asking questions: why? Why is the car not fast enough? Why does it have little grip? Why? Well, because of our aero. Why? Why? Maybe I have the same kind of attitude in other fields too. Why are we doing what we do? How can I save emissions?", finally justified the four-time champion.