Sebastian Vettel

Vettel maintained beehives at his Swiss home and spoke frequently about the importance of bee populations to global ecosystems. He brought honeycomb to the paddock to share with journalists and spoke at length about colony collapse disorder and pollinator decline. His beekeeping was not a hobby for show — colleagues describe him as genuinely knowledgeable and dedicated to it.

In his final years in F1, Vettel used every platform available to him to highlight environmental issues. He picked up litter at Grands Prix, cycled to circuits, wore pro-environment helmets and clothing, and met with activists including Greta Thunberg. He publicly acknowledged the contradiction of being a racing driver while caring about carbon emissions, and cited it as one of his reasons for retiring at the end of 2022.

Vettel owns a significant collection of vintage cars spanning various decades of automotive history. Unlike many celebrity car collections which are status-based, Vettel's reflects genuine knowledge and passion for automotive history. He has attended vintage racing events and has driven some of his collection cars in demonstrations. He is said to know the history and provenance of each car in detail.

After retiring from F1, Vettel has participated in historic racing events, driving period-correct cars from various eras. He has spoken about the joy of racing without the pressure of championship points and the pleasure of mechanical simplicity compared to modern F1 cars.

Vettel married his childhood sweetheart Hanna Prater, who he had known since school. Their three children have almost never been photographed publicly. Vettel has spoken about the deliberate choice to keep his family private in a world where celebrity children are often exposed without their consent. He remains close to his parents and siblings in Germany.

Vettel was famous for naming his race cars. 'Kinky Kylie', 'Hungry Heidi', 'Luscious Liz' — each car got a name by which he referred to it throughout the season. He maintained that each car had its own personality, and that the naming helped him develop a working relationship with the machine. Team personnel initially found it eccentric; most came to find it endearing.

Cycling was both fitness tool and genuine pleasure for Vettel. At several European rounds, he arrived at the circuit by bicycle, sometimes cycling 20-30km from his accommodation. He participated in charity cycling events and maintained cycling as a core part of his fitness regime. He has continued cycling extensively since retirement.

In his final season (2022), Vettel wore a unique helmet design at each Grand Prix, each one referencing a different cause, historical moment, or personal tribute. The helmet designs became a talking point of the season independent of his racing, with fans and media speculating before each race about what the next one would depict.