Formula E driver and former Formula 1 racer Lucas Di Grassi has said that Sebastian Vettel would be more than welcome to join the all-electric series next year as the German approaches the final months of his F1 career.

The four-time world champion announced his retirement from F1 last week, effective at the end of the current campaign, and many are interested to see what he'll do next.

An increasingly loud voice for social and environmental justice, many think Seb may go down a completely different route to racing after the end of this year but, of course, motorsport is all he has known for so long and that passion combined with his environmental campaigning naturally points to a potential interest in Formula E - though Seb himself has never really indicated he'd consider it thus far.

Speaking to the press on a virtual call, though, Di Grassi, a former FE champion and a former F1 racer who shared the grid with Vettel, has said Seb would be very welcome to join the series if he was interested in doing so:

"We raced together many times in Formula 3 especially and it would be amazing to have him race here.

"I think a lot of the sustainability talks in F1 are not really making any difference, like saying 'don't use fossil fuels' and then they're sponsored by Aramco.

"[Vettel] has become, in the last few years, conscious about the state of the world and what he can do to make it better and use his platform as a sportsman to try to make the world a better place which I think is very noble of him, he could just do his racing and then stop and buy a boat and stay in the boat somewhere so I think it's very noble of him.

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA - JULY 09: Sebastian Vettel of Germany driving the (5) Aston Martin AMR22 Mercedes on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on July 09, 2022 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

"It would be a pleasure to have him racing with us but I don't think it will happen. Formula E is a very difficult environment, although in Gen 3 everything starts from scratch so it would be the perfect time for someone to jump in and I'm sure he would be competitive. It just takes time, Formula E is a very special racing series and you don't have practice sessions or testing days so it takes time but it would be a pleasure to have him racing with us."

Season 8 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship reaches its conclusion in Seoul, South Korea with a double-header on August 13 and 14.