Sebastian Vettel has revealed he completed an internship on organic farming during lockdown in 2020.
Vettel is the only one of F1’s 20 drivers without a social media account and managed to keep a low profile through lockdown ahead of the delayed 2020 season start. The four-time F1 champion, who is racing for Aston Martin this year, has spoken of an interest in nature and farming before.
Last year Vettel joined Lewis Hamilton in calling for F1 to do more to protect the environment. F1 hopes to be carbon neutral by the year 2030.
Vettel has been announced as an ambassador for BioBienenApfel, an initiative looking to protect habitats for insects. Reigning US Open tennis champion Dominic Thiem is also an ambassador.
Explaining why he took the internship, Vettel said: “Since I had more time than I had actually planned, I thought about what I could do and what interested me.
“That’s what interests me. At some point you realise that not every vegetable is the same, not every apple has the same nutrients, and then you ask why.
“Then you realise very quickly where the apple comes from and how it is grown – and that’s how the doors opened for me.
“The theory interests me and I read about it a lot. But to learn more from the practical side and talk to the people who deal with it on a day-to-day basis, that was very interesting.”
Vettel has already made plans to plant a meadow for his daughters at their home in Switzerland in the shape of a love heart.
Vettel is excited to see the meadow he planted come to life this year.
“Since I didn’t want to settle for a small heart, I then staked out the heart a bit bigger,” Vettel said.
“The girls were there at the beginning, but then I was alone with the spade and that was very exhausting.
“Last year, a little bit came up, but I’m looking forward to seeing more sprouts this year.”