Q&A with Britta (Highlights) [2025-07-16] ↴
Bonus info: Seb will be in Germany for the upcoming SailGP race (August 16-17) and Team Seb are hoping to have an event in Brazil again during the F1 Grand Prix (potentially another #Race4Women), but nothing concrete planned yet!
on how both their lives changed after the 2010 season -
It's quite a change when you win a World Championship for the first time. How many requests, not just from journalists, but in general from sponsors, from fans, from the public, also from politicians, from I don't know, communities, clubs, associations, all kinds of things come at you. Suddenly everyone wanted something from him. So it was pretty crazy, and when I think about it, Sunday was always very protected, or I had to make sure that Seb was protected, because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do his job. He couldn't have spent the whole time talking to all those people. That was my job. And that's why Thursday was pretty busy. As soon as Seb got to the track, he had his schedule until late in the evening. And my job was to guide him through it all and make sure we were on time. And that was often difficult because, of course, everything was delayed, but then you also had to discuss it with the team. Because when you suddenly have so much to do, and especially when you win the World Championship once, you want to win it again. You have to make sure that he can still do his job in peace and concentrate on the essentials, putting things aside and then perhaps making it clear to the team, "does the sponsor or this sponsorship event have to be now, or can it be done at another time, later?"
on Seb's public persona -
He's always been very fair to me, always fair, always respectful, fair. He never gave me any stupid, rude answers, not at all. But of course I saw how he grew or how he changed, and in the past he would just walk off the track, even if it might not have been a good idea to do so at that moment, but that was in the past and that's just how racers are, so I don't think you can hold that against him. And that's exactly what makes him so special, I think, his character. I mean, when you saw Sebastian sulking, or however you saw him, that's how he felt, and I think it's better not to pretend, even if you're a bit grumpy or something. Of course he could have put on a PR face and given PR answers, but that's just not him. He never really wanted to. What you see, or what you normally see as him, is just who he really is. And I think that's good, so we deliberately didn't want to change that, and even when things weren't going so well, and we wanted him to give nice or neutral answers, he wouldn't because that's just not how he felt inside. And why should you pretend and give different answers? Of course, you have to be careful about what you say in public sometimes. Of course, you shouldn't behave inappropriately, but for us it was actually important that he always remained true to who he really is.
on an emotional response at the 2010 Korean GP -
I can still remember a very special race in Korea, when I think the engine blew up on one of the last laps. He was so angry and played soccer with his trainer upstairs in one of the rooms and he just had to let out all his anger there. But I think it's important because that's what makes these guys who they are. If they didn't have that, then for me he wouldn't be the number one race car driver, he would just be someone completely normal. I think it's okay to get angry.
on working with Seb compared to DC, Webber, etc. -
I always found it exciting with Seb because Seb always challenged you. It was a bit different because he questions everything. So, if you want to get Seb to do something, he has a mind of his own and questions it and doesn't just let you do something if he doesn't agree with it. And I always think that's what's special about Seb, and a driver has to have that, at least for me.
on the Seb retirement video:
But what was funny was that a lot of people thought it was fake because so many thought Sebastian doesn't do social media, so it must be fake. That's why I had complete chaos that day, because at least as many people who asked me about his retirement asked me if it was real or if it was fake. So it was really 50-50. The really special thing about that day, even with the racing drivers, he was also asked by the racing drivers, "is this a joke or is it serious?"
on Seb's social media usage:
He suddenly had the idea that with his resignation, he would quickly start using social media, which wasn't easy either, because, how many months did we have left? That was in June, July, right? So we only had a few months left and then his career was over. And I kept asking myself, what should come next on social media? And Seb is so funny, he says, "maybe we can stop and see what we do." Yes, maybe we'll just stop again. That's typical Seb. Of course that's not possible, but I found it a big challenge to deal with, because he's not someone who reveals anything about his private life, not at all. You can still see that now. He keeps it very private. It's difficult to maintain something like that. An account like that.
on emotional moments (Abu Dhabi 2010 being #1):
And Brazil in 2009, when he expected to win the World Championship. Yes, he calculated mathematically that it was still possible to win. Of course, no one believed him, and he was really down, and in that moment, well, I'll never forget it, because he was really there, really sad after the race, when Jenson won.
on Britta being mentioned in the press -
The only thing I don't like so much is when people write “the woman by his side,” because I think that's his wife, and I definitely am not. [Host: I have to say, that was the text I originally wanted to use for tonight. I discussed it with Britta.] But I think that's what lots of people do. I think I've read that sentence many times before, and I don't think it's true. I'm not the woman by his side. For me, that's primarily his wife, not me.
on Seb's potential to take over the driver development role:
Well, I think Seb is very good with young drivers or up-and-coming drivers. I saw that again last year when we were in Sao Paulo and how he talked to Antonelli, for example, who wasn't in the car yet. I think he could do it well in some respects. Definitely. Selecting young drivers, motivating young drivers? He would be very good at that. You could see that at the event we did in Saudi Arabia: how he interacted with the women, how much time he took for the girls. We really trained the girls from morning to night. He did it in detail. We had to organize extra water so that the girls could learn what it's like to drive in the rain. So he had all these different challenges, or he wanted us to organize them for this event so that the girls would know everything. And I think he could do a very good job in that area. Seb also experienced what it's like to be a young driver in Formula 1 or in motorsport, and I think that's great, that as an athlete you can pass on a lot to future generations.
