Ted Kravitz shares the essential advice he ‘learned’ from Sebastian Vettel during his time in the Formula 1 paddock

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Ted Kravitz has been one of the most recognisable voices in the Formula 1 paddock for the past two decades.

He’s the source of all the information in Formula 1’s pit lane and sometimes has the unenviable task of interviewing team principals after each race no matter what mood they’re in.

During his time in F1, Ted Kravitz has witnessed the domination of the likes of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and most recently Max Verstappen.

Kravitz admitted Schumacher had a unique take on interviews, but every team boss or driver goes into every chat with the Sky Sports reporter with their own agenda.

That doesn’t make sourcing the information he requires an easy task, although his eagle-eyed observations in the paddock have provided plenty of breaking stories.

Most recently, Kravitz spotted Jack Doohan looking upset after the Miami Grand Prix, and it turned out the Australian had just been informed that Alpine were set to replace him with Franco Colapinto for the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

He’s now shared the essential piece of information he was given by Vettel while he was racing in Formula 1 that he still uses today during his interviews.

READ MORE: Ted Kravitz noticed Kimi Antonelli dealing with a problem at the Miami Grand Prix that plagued Oscar Piastri during his rookie season

Ted Kravitz shares the advice Sebastian Vettel gave him to be ‘completely clear-headed’

Kravitz was a guest on Marc Priestley’s Pitlane Life Lessons and recalled his first season covering Formula 1 in 2002 when Ferrari were at the peak of their dominance.

He spoke about an interview he was doing after the Austrian Grand Prix when Ferrari swapped Rubens Barrichello and Schumacher at the front of the race when the Brazilian had been leading the Grand Prix.

Kravitz explained, “If you look at my interview with Ross Brawn after the race, it has the same kind of questioning vibe but I didn’t have my words quite right.

“I think I said, ‘Well, hang on, Rubens had that race won, didn’t he? He had it won fair and square?

“And Ross said, ‘Well, what do you mean he had it won fair and square? They weren’t racing, we called it off after lap 20 because they were so far ahead of everybody else, we wanted to save the cars.’

“What I learned was actually from Sebastian Vettel, was the importance of having your head clear in the moment, of not being involved in the kind of reaction and the emotion of what’s going on.

“You need to be completely clear-headed, and that is when you’re going to get the best results.

“And I was so confused about what I’d just seen, that I allowed that to maybe not get my question quite right, and that’s something I’ve learned from many other people.”

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Sebastian Vettel responds to rumour he could return to the F1 paddock in Red Bull role

Vettel retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season, being replaced by Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin the following year.

Since then, there have been suggestions of him returning as a driver, with Mercedes briefly linked with Vettel after Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari.

However, there may be another opportunity opening up for the German in the near future.

Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko suggested that Vettel would be his perfect replacement when he decides to eventually retire.

Vettel responded to Marko’s idea and would certainly have a very different approach to the role, but the 37-year-old didn’t rule out the move.