Sebastian Vettel has delved into the emotional final conversation he had with fellow German, seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher before his skiing accident in 2013.
Vettel grew up idolising his compatriot and revealed that he was about to become a father during their final discussion.
He told RTL: “The first thoughts immediately went to the last conversation we had, and that couldn’t be more positive.
“I told him that I was going to be a father and what was coming for us. I really appreciated it towards the end, in that sense, that our relationship became stronger and stronger before the accident because we both got to know each other more and more.”
December 29, 2023, marks 10 years since Schumacher’s accident in the French Alps, and the German’s condition has been kept very public since.
The pair raced together in Formula 1 from 2010-2012, with Vettel bagging three of his four championships across those three seasons.
Vettel and Schumacher also formed a formidable partnership at the Race of Champions, winning six consecutive Nations’ Cups from 2007-2012 for Team Germany.
They became very close away from the circuit as their relationship developed outside of motorsport.
“Racing was no longer the biggest thing we had in common but life in general and life with and around racing.
“And I just miss my friend, in that sense, I believe in recent years he would have been extremely important when I would have so many questions, he would have so many answers, or he could provide inspiration that’s missing, but it is from a friend’s point of view with me.”
The four-time world champion said that it’s still a subject that is regularly on his mind: “It’s still very, very difficult, I don’t want to say, to accept it, but to accept that he continues to fight and that he is not feeling well.
“I only wish him the best, but it’s still often a topic I think about privately, and I think about a lot, which is a recurring theme.
“But for the family, it is much more difficult. At the time, Mick was a little boy or boy, maybe not so small anymore, but a teenager. I think it’s a completely different dimension if the father has an accident and, in that respect, breaks away.”
Vettel and Schumacher remain Germany’s two most successful Formula 1 drivers, with a remarkable 144 wins and 11 Drivers’ Championship secured between them.
