Vettel hasn't given any thought to retiring

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Sebastian Vettel says that he has no plans to retire anytime soon, and that he hasn't even considered the possibility.

"I haven't thought about it," he said in an interview with Playboy magazine. "I see it as an extremely big decision, not something spontaneous."

Vettel said that he wouldn't follow Nico Rosberg's example of suddenly quitting the sport if he won another world championship. He added that despite retiring from the sport in 2016, Rosberg seemed to be busier than ever these days.

"I see him running from one appointment to the next!" he said. Rosberg became a father last month, currently co-manages Robert Kubica, and appeared as a Sky Sports F1 pundit at Suzuka.

"I lie down on the sofa," deadpanned Vettel when asked what he did with any free time away from the track.

His title rival Lewis Hamilton has taken a different line on life after Formula 1. He caused a stir last month when he admitted that he regularly thought about whether it might be time to retire.

Vettel already has four world titles under his belt - one more than Hamilton. However all of them came while he was at Red Bull, and he's driven by the despite to clinch a first championship with Ferrari.

Hamilton: "I've thought about retirement and the future..."

"I think everyone who has sat in a Ferrari feels that it is something very special," said the 30-year-old. "I haven't become champion with Ferrari yet."

Vettel's chances of claiming that title this year have faded after a series of setbacks since the summer break. A faulty spark plug costing a mere 59 euros put him out of the Japanese Grand Prix, which Hamilton went on to win.

It leaves him 59 points behind Hamilton in the drivers standings with four races remaining. A repeat of that outcome in the next race would hand Hamilton the drivers' title.

“Of course now the championship is more difficult and not finishing the race doesn’t help,” Vettel admitted.

“I also said to the guys to get back home and have some rest because it’s been a tough week with a lot of changes," he continued. "We’ll come back with a better package to do well for the last four races and then we’ll see.

"Overall, I believe the team is in a good way."

As for his own performance, he brushed off criticism that he'd allowed himself to become too hot-headed as the season has progressed.

"I am who I am," he said. "And I love what I do."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.