Champion of change

Sebastian Vettel is soon to retire as an F1 legend but also, yet more admirably, a man who does right by all, says Edd Straw

- Edd Straw

Few sporting greats would call themselves a hypocrite when announcing their retirement. But four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has always been a special character, even if it took until his final years in F1 for the watching world to see the hidden depths that lay beneath. When he walks away from F1 after November's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his legacy will be assured on and off the track.

Vettel's admission that "I don't mind people calling me a hypocrite, because I know that I am myself" reflects his passion for the environment. A legend of a fossil-burning sport yet also a campaigner against climate change, he is far from your normal racing driver.

On the track, his F1 achievements speak for themselves. Only Sir Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher top his tally of 53 victories, while his dominance from 2010 to 2013 with Red Bull Racing is the stuff of legend. His final nine seasons, including six with Ferrari, yielded just 14 victories and endless frustration, but by then he had already fulfilled his destiny.

The young Vettel was steeped in motorsport thanks to the enthusiasm of his father. He talks of spectating at Hockenheim, where he saw Michael Schumacher in his early Benetton days and Nigel Mansell racing the famous Williams FW14B - a car the Heppenheim native now owns.

Vettel made his first big impact in car racing by dominating the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship. He already had much-needed backing from Red Bull and BMW, showing a voracious appetite for building the knowledge of how to become a successful driver.

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost knows Vettel well. Not only did his team (then called Toro Rosso) run Vettel to his famous first F1 victory in 2008, but he was also at BMW when Vettel started to make an impact.