Dominic Thiem Explains Why Sebastian Vettel, Not Lewis Hamilton is His Favorite F1 Driver

Lewis Hamilton is arguably one of the most prevalent F1 drivers ever, and he’s also the favorite of quite a good portion of the sport’s fans. However, there are some that stray away from this, and tennis superstar Dominic Thiem is one of them.

A global Red Bull ambassador, the Austrian was a guest of the Red Bull F1 team at their home Grand Prix in Austria and watched the Styrian Grand Prix from their facilities. He also congratulated the Milton Keynes outfit’s driver Max Verstappen after he won the race.

In an interview with Servus TV, Thiem revealed his favorite F1 driver, and no, it’s not a Red Bull driver.

Well, technically, it is!

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An insanely nice and sympathetic guy: Thiem on Sebastian Vettel

While Thiem named Hamilton as the most successful sportsperson of all time, he chose someone else as his favorite – ex-Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel.

“On the website, I named him (Lewis Hamilton) the most successful sportsperson of all time, and with his records; he belongs there. However, my favorite driver is Sebastian Vettel,” said the World No.5 player.

Explaining why he chose Vettel as his favorite driver, he said,” I got to know him and an insanely nice and sympathetic guy, that’s why.”

He also jokingly mentioned that his second favorite driver is Nico Hulkenberg, as the German was present at the time of the interview.

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Can Seb bounce back at the Austrian Grand Prix?

Unfortunately, Thiem could not witness his favorite driver in his glory. Despite being a sparkling run of form, Vettel could not make any inroads at the Styrian Grand Prix and finished outside the points.

He was in a train of cars from 7th to 13th. All the cars were in DRS range of each other, which made the overtaking tougher. In the end, the Aston Martin driver ran out of tires and finished 12th.

It was especially disappointing as his teammate finished eighth and put in a solid performance. But given the kind of form he has displayed these past few weeks, there’s a good chance that the four-time world champion will bounce back at the Austrian GP next week.

Do you think Seb can secure a better result at the same track next week? Let us know in the comments!