Norbert Vettel once lifted the lid on all the hard work his son Sebastian had to put in as a youngster in order to live out his Formula 1 dream.
Vettel retired from F1 at the end of last season, aged 35. He will be sorely missed by fans not only for his outstanding racing ability, but also his humour and the way in which he led by example when using his platform to highlight social injustices and climate change.
It was fitting that his father, Norbert, was there in the Aston Martin garage as the four-time world champion said farewell to the sport. Especially given how much time and effort he also put in to help his son Seb to reach the pinnacle of motorsport.
Vettel Snr once spoke, in an interview with Motorsport-Total, about what life was like for the family as they poured everything into helping Seb to live his F1 dream. "It all really started in 1994," he said.
"It would have been a mistake if we had already dreamed of Formula 1 with the eight-year-old Seb. You have to have one goal after the other. Achieve this one – and plan the next one. Otherwise everything is over.
"In addition, the whole family had to participate. We lived for Seb's career for ten years and gave up vacations." The studious young Vettel also had his commitment to racing questions at times, as he tried to work just as had on his schoolwork as he did on honing his racecraft.
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Vettel Snr added: "If we only arrived late on Friday because Seb was still at school, some fathers would ask me: 'Does your son actually want to be a professor or a racing driver?' Today all envious people know the answer!"
Particularly testing were the times when money began to dry up and sponsors disappeared. "I was fed up again, but we didn't want to give up. For years we drove through Europe in a camper van or car. Seb slept in the trunk a few times!
"I once installed an extra tank in the VW bus so that we could drive from Germany to Italy without stopping for petrol in expensive Switzerland. Seb is scary. He learns as fast as a computer programming itself. That's how he did the theory tests for trucks, private cars and motorcycles in one day!"
In the end, the hard work turned out to be worth it. Not only did Vettel make it all the way to F1, but he left the sport last year having won 53 races and four world titles – making him one of its most successful ever racers.