Sebastian Vettel talks about 2025 F1 season. [Credits: X/ Formula 1]

Sebastian Vettel Hails Lando Norris as a Great “Role Model”!

Sebastian Vettel calls Lando Norris a great role model as he talks about the latest ongoings of Formula 1.

Sebastian Vettel talks about 2025 F1 season. [Credits: X/ Formula 1]

Sebastian Vettel is in Saudi Arabia this weekend. The former F1 driver and four-time world champion is helping women who want to join motorsports. Vettel exits F1 after the end of 2022 season. Since then, he has been rather active about the Formula 1 world. Vettel is often seen on weekends promoting the social causes he is working for.

Sebastian Vettel has taken a lot of interest in the championship this season. After the end of Max Verstappen’s dominance in 2024, the championship has become much more interesting. Earlier, Vettel had expressed that he was rooting for his former rival, Lewis Hamilton. Even though Sebastian Vettel wanted Lewis Hamilton to win his eighth title, he will have to wait longer. Hamilton’s Ferrari and his current results are nowhere supportive of his record-breaking eighth title dreams.

When Sebastian Vettel wore a t-shirt signed by all the women he organised a karting event for in Saudi Arabia 🙌 pic.twitter.com/W8v9N7uTTX
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) April 16, 2025

It seems one of the McLarens has piqued the interest of Sebastian Vettel this season. The Papaya cars are in contention for the world championship in the early stage of the 2025 season. The first two races of the season have helped McLarens establish a dominant lead over other teams with their superior machinery. But, one of their drivers is highly self-critical about himself. Vettel had words of encouragement for him and his behaviour ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel Applauds Lando Norris’s Self-Critical Behaviour

Lando Norris is extremely unpopular among the F1 fans this season due to his self-critical thinking. The Briton is leading the championship, but he still has his flaws. Throughout the five weekends, Norris has been making mistakes and facing several difficulties with his car. Once, he also got into a battle of words with Verstappen about how his car is unstable.

From every angle 😮‍💨

An incredible move by Lando Norris to reclaim his place on the podium 🥉#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/O5PLxAS1Te
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 14, 2025

The Bahrain GP weekend was equally disappointing for him until the race. He was unable to match his teammate’s pace in qualifying. Norris even collected a penalty at the start of the race. However, he managed to display a lot of patience and good race pace. Norris was able to use the advantage of his McLaren’s superior speed to recover until the third position. He has managed to keep his lead against teammate Piastri.

His self-doubts and failures over the past have earned him a lot of hate from the Formula 1 fans. Anytime Norris ends up gaining the spotlight, he is immediately attacked by fans. However, the German champion had a lot of praise for Norris.

“I think it’s a positive development because we are normal people,” the German told Reuters. “We do have normal problems just like everybody else. Heroism is fine but it’s also part of the heroism to just talk about your problems and your weakness. I think that’s a great development to see and to witness and, you know, real role models. I don’t think it’s a sign of weakness. It might be criticized by some people, but if you look at the broader picture, I think it’s just progress.”

Vettel also talked about Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s championship battle. He thinks that Norris is still the indirect favorite for the championship. But he is not worried about any infighting between the teammates at McLaren. Sebastian Vettel believes that Andrea Stella is doing a good job at managing his drivers.

But that’s not it. Sebastian Vettel has also answered one of the crucial questions about the championship this year.

Vettel Believes in a Red Bull Comeback

Sebastian Vettel has a special place in his heart for his former team. Vettel has won all of his championships at Red Bull Racing. He was a celebrated driver at Red Bull during his F1 days. Red Bull Racing still remebers Vettel as one of their very best. Vettel has predicted that his former team has everything they need to make a comeback.

Red Bull Racing has made one of their worst starts in the ground-effects era. Max Verstappen may have won the race in Suzuka but he has displayed no confidence in his car. Verstappen’s results are degrading day by day. He is facing numerous issues in his car and is frustrated. The situation has escalated to such a point that people are talking about his departure from Red Bull.

Concern is growing within Red Bull that Max Verstappen will leave the team at the end of the year
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) April 14, 2025

Vettel thinks that Red Bull Racing have not given up yet and that they can turn things around if needed. He had spent six years at Red Bull Racing in his F1 career. Thus, Vettel knows that his team has the potential to make a miracously recovery. His own victories in 2010 and 2012 driver’s championship were nothing short of legendary. According to Vettel,

“Obviously, Red Bull isn’t very strong now, but if you just go back one year, Red Bull started off very strong and wasn’t that strong at the end and still won. So I think, you know, of course it can change. It’s not that easy to fix, but generally, I think they know what they are doing. It is very likely or very possible that Red Bull can turn it around.”

Vettel’s words have provided much needed relief to Max Verstappen and Red Bull fans who have almost given up since the start of the season.

Formula 1

Formula 1 2025 Season

Lando Norris

Max Verstappen

McLaren F1

Red Bull Racing

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.