Sebastian Vettel’s return to F1? Charles Leclerc is adamant

A farewell that will be final: former teammate’s word.

Sebastian Vettel left Formula 1 with all the honors of the Circus and also of his colleagues in an unforgettable Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday that concluded the 2022 season. And several drivers were convinced that, as it was for Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, a comeback will also be consummated in his case. Among them, however, is not his last teammate in Ferrari, Charles Leclerc.

In fact, official Formula 1 accounts have unearthed a conversation between Sergio Perez and Leclerc himself, which took place minutes after the conclusion of the Grand Prix in which the two competed for second place in the world behind Max Verstappen. And if the Red Bull’s Mexican introduced the topic of Vettel’s comeback, the Ferrari driver admitted to seeing it differently.

“It didn’t look like a farewell to Seb, did it?” let Perez escape as he watched on some screens Vettel’s celebrations at the end of the race. “Excuse me?” replied Leclerc initially to his colleague. “It didn’t feel like goodbye. My feeling is that he will be back,” the Red Bull colleague then clarified. But Ferrari’s Monegasque was adamant: “I believe he will not return.”

Among the first to open up about Vettel’s return to Formula 1 is Lewis Hamilton himself, who had told his colleague, former rival and now friend at a press conference, “We always had great battles, and I thought so many drivers are coming back. Alonso is back, maybe you will do the same.”