Sebastian Vettel branded a ‘hypocrite’ by Canadian minister after fresh F1 protest

Vettel accepted that he was a “hypocrite” when asked about his activism role while still racing in F1 when he appeared on BBC programme Question Time. But, speaking in Friday’s press conference, Vettel doubled down on his stance against Canada’s exploitation of the tar sands.

He said: “I find this – fascinating might be the wrong word – but there’s a lot going on. We live in a time and age where we are so much aware of a lot of things. I think what happens in Alberta is a crime because you chop down a lot of trees and you basically destroy the place just to extract oil and the manner of doing it with the tar sands mining, oil sands mining is horrible for nature.

“Obviously Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions have gone up since they started doing it. The site has only been, as far as I read, found like 20 years ago. The prime minister said that no other country would find these resources and not pick them up; I think in principle every country and every person has their opinions and their stance. My personal opinion is I disagree.”