"We probably don't have the best of relationships" - Sebastian Vettel describes his equation with Fernando Alonso

Sebastian Vettel doesn't think he had the best of relationships with fellow legend Fernando Alonso.

In a recent appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Sebastian Vettel was quizzed on his relationship with Fernando Alonso. The German admitted that the two did not have the best of relationships throughout their careers.

He said that he rated Alonso very highly but the two never got to know each other as much. He said:

"I rate Fernando really high as a driver I think he has got so much natural talent, incredible determination, great racing instinct, and all of that he hasn't lost. You can see he loves his racing. He's very passionate."

He added:

"As a person, though, I don't know him, really. I wouldn't say we don't get along, I think we respect each other. But it's just never happened that we really got to know each other, spend time [together] or talk much outside racing."

Sebastian Vettel felt that he didn't have that kind of equation with Fernando Alonso was because he didn't have any coming together with him.

The German explained that coming together with Lewis Hamilton in Baku in 2017 was one of the reasons why the two had a good relationship afterward. However, something like this never happened with Alonso. He said:

"Maybe we didn't have that moment, like I had with Lewis, that brought us together. I think he's a great competitor, probably one of the most difficult I've ever had, because he's just always there and never backs off, but also very respectful when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing, [which] I've enjoyed so much."

He added:

"But, as a person, we probably don't have the best of relationships, because we just don't know each other so well."

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"He's probably been the toughest one"- Sebastian Vettel on Fernando Alonso

Sebastian Vettel rated Alonso as the toughest challenge in his career and talked about how the two title battles in 2010 and 2012 were so intense. He said:

"I think I admire him as a competitor. He's probably been the toughest one, especially in [those] first couple of years, and we had [such] close battles at the end of the championships, both in 2010 and then 2012, in particular, which is still probably one of my favorite moments/memories. Just the tension coming into the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, that morning, that build-up."

He added:

"I think that, for me, at least – I don't know for the people who were there, [they] were probably more relaxed – but for me, it was very intense, and I think both of us were very nervous."

Sebastian Vettel will be replaced by Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin for the 2023 F1 season.