Vettel: I want to travel back in time…

Every year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​has a special guest who is in the spotlight for one reason or another. For example, last year Nigel Mansell, the 1992 world champion, was such a guest – in 2022 it will be 30 years since he won his title.

It was symbolic in its own way that Sebastian Vettel drove the same champion Mansell car this weekend, Williams FW14B, which is now in the German racer’s personal collection. Now he is the one who has the honor of being a special guest of the festival, and after several races on the high-speed hill climb course, the four-time world champion, who ended his motorsport career last year, drove to the mansion of Charles Gordon- Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond.

Admittedly, he did not drive for Williams, but for McLaren of the 1993 model on which Ayrton Senna performed that season. According to tradition, the duke personally met the guest on the porch of the manor, although Sebastian did not immediately get hold of him. Accompanied by guards, he literally squeezed through a narrow passage leading to the house, and hundreds of hands stretched out to him from all sides. Fans handed him various items – caps, T-shirts, notebooks or just scraps of paper, and Sebastian patiently signed autographs.

Someone gave him a thermos for this, someone even a steering wheel from a racing simulator. And you also had to stop to take a selfie – in general, the Duke of Vettel was clearly tired of waiting, but in the end Sebastian reached the goal.

Together with Gordon-Lennox, he went to the balcony of the mansion and there, to the applause of thousands of fans, Karun Chandhok, a former Formula 1 driver and now an expert on Sky Sports, spoke to him.

“Of course everyone had reasons to be upset yesterday because of the weather, but today she pleased us, the day turned out to be beautiful and I had a great time,” said Vettel. – I had a special reason to come here: I took my cars to Goodwood and they are filled with synthetic carbon neutral fuel.

Many people asked me: “Is it possible to use such fuel in everyday life?” I’m not sure if I have a ready answer, but if we all ask ourselves these questions, one day this will become a reality. We all live on the same planet and need to take care of it. Serious changes are taking place in the world, we should be aware of this and try to do something.

Of course I love motorsports and it would be a shame if such festivals, races and motorsports in general were threatened with extinction in the future. I really want to protect all this and do something in advance to prevent such a threat.”

When Sebastian was reminded that Nigel Mansell was standing on this balcony a year ago giving an interview, he replied cheerfully: “I feel very good with Nigel and admire him. I’ve driven several of his cars, but I don’t understand how he managed to show such speeds on them.

The cockpit is very full, although I am rather slim, and he is a very strong man with a dense physique. I would like to travel back in time and be in the 90’s to compete with the racers of the time, although I’m not at all sure I would have succeeded. And yet it’s great that even now, after 30 years, we still start their engines.

Driving the McLaren, which Ayrton Senna raced in 1993 and which I drove to this country house, is a special emotion, especially when everything happens in front of so many people. In this car, its seat, its steering wheel, and actually this week I did some secret testing at Silverstone, because I had to check that everything works well in this McLaren, and it was a lot of fun.

I did 10-15 laps and even tried to attack and wasn’t much slower than driving a modern Formula 1. Although I haven’t tested it at top speeds of course, it’s still my own car, and if I broke then I would you have to pay out of your own pocket!

Of course, Vettel was asked about his plans for the future, and this is how he replied: “I’m not exactly sure what the next challenge I want to take on will be, but I’m concerned about the fate of the planet. and I want my vote to be used for good purposes. My participation in the Goodwood Festival is part of that, and I hope there is much more to experience.

I still watch races and enjoy them because I remain an ardent fan. At the same time, I cannot but comment on what is happening on the screen with my wife – I hope she has nothing against it. (laughs) But in the end I have to find something that really fascinates me.”

At this point, Karun Chandhok interrupted and assured that Sebastian would always find a place in the commentary booth. The audience greeted this idea with a roar of approval.

“No, no,” Vettel replied. – I like to watch races. By the way, I have a habit of talking too much, so maybe my comment. won’t be the most interesting. But I’m sure I’ll show up for a few races soon because I miss all those people who work in Formula 1 because I have so many friends among them.”