Driving for Ferrari in Formula 1 is something that many drivers aspire to even if they’ve not won a championship in more than 15 years.
They’re the most iconic team in the sport and have managed to attract seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to the team for 2025 despite their lack of recent success.
Speaking on The Fast and The Curious Podcast, former Ferrari strategist Ruth Buscombe has been talking about her time with the team.
F1 has long been dominated by one team at a time even before the days of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
That tends to create some tension between the top teams and some enthralling battles on the track.
Ruth Buscombe has admitted that some Ferrari staff weren’t the biggest fans of Sebastian Vettel before he joined the team.
The four-time world champion was virtually impossible to beat in his pomp at Red Bull.
However, he quickly changed how Ferrari staff felt about him once he joined the team and while he couldn’t replicate the success he enjoyed at Red Bull, he was still a very popular figure with fans.
Ruth Buscombe says Ferrari staff didn’t like Sebastian Vettel before he joined the team
Between 2010 and 2013, Sebastian Vettel was the dominant force within Formula 1.
He won all four titles, thwarting the efforts of Ferrari in the process and eventually accumulated 122 podium finishes.
In particular, he denied Fernando Alonso the chance to win the two titles he achieved at Renault in 2005 and 2006.
However, when Alonso decided to join McLaren in 2015 – a move he may still regret considering how poor they were from that point on – it opened up a spot within the team.
Buscombe has explained how the mood at Ferrari changed once Vettel arrived and replaced the Spaniard.
Although he didn’t win a fifth title during his time at Maranello, he become one of their most popular drivers in recent times.
The Ferrari staff who weren’t sure about Vettel weren’t the only ones, with Jacques Villeneuve recently admitted he never thought the 36-year-old would be a success at the team.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
Sebastian Vettel earned plenty of fans at Ferrari
Talking about the German star, Buscombe said: “I mean, I can’t say enough good things about Seb [Vettel], as a human being, as a driver.
“I couldn’t imagine 10 years later when he announced his retirement saying good things about him because in 2012, I was at Ferrari and we hated that man!
“So like, him and the finger were like the worst thing, so we were very excited about when he was joining Ferrari.
“He was just too good, he was the ultimate rival, little did I know at that point that he would become one of the most important people in my life and my friend.”
Could Sebastian Vettel return to Formula 1?
Despite Buscombe insisting that Vettel won over Ferrari after his spell at Red Bull, he won’t be driving for the Tifosi again any time soon.
However, Vettel has been linked with a return to the grid, potentially as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
Nico Rosberg has said it would be ‘huge’ if Toto Wolff brought him in, but he appears to be quite far down their shortlist.
Vettel has also been linked with Audi, although they’ve already signed up Nico Hulkenberg and want Carlos Sainz to partner him.
It appears unlikely at this stage that Vettel will be returning to Formula 1 for 2025.
However, nobody saw Michael Schumacher making an F1 comeback when he joined Mercedes, so anything could happen.
The post ‘We hated that man’: Ruth Buscombe says some Ferrari staff didn't like 122-podium star before they signed him appeared first on F1 Oversteer.