Red Bull confirm Sebastian Vettel return to F1 car with Ricciardo also called up

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Red Bull have confirmed that Sebastian Vettel will soon be getting behind the wheel of a Formula One car for the first time since retiring from the sport at the end of last year. The 35-year-old, who clinched four Drivers’ Championship titles during his time with Red Bull between 2009 and 2014, is set to be joined by Daniel Ricciardo at a special event in Germany later this year.

Vettel retired last December at the end of a two-year spell with Aston Martin, which followed a lengthy but unsuccessful stint at Ferrari after the German’s exit from Red Bull nine years ago. He has not driven an F1 car since calling time on his professional career but will do so later this year when he gets behind the wheel of his title-winning RB7 at the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife.

The RB7 carried Vettel to his second Drivers’ Championship triumph in 2011 as he registered 11 race victories to successfully defend the maiden title he won the previous year. He will be tasked with putting it through its paces around the Nordschleife alongside Red Bull reserve driver Ricciardo, who will be getting behind the wheel of an RB8 which was used by the team in 2012.

“The myth of the Nordschleife resonated, even if we ‘only’ drove the Grand Prix track at the time,” said Vettel. “In any case, it will be great fun to drive my RB7, fuelled with e-fuel, on the Nordschleife as part of a show run.

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“Motorsport is my passion. It’s important to me to show that racing cars can run just as well and quickly with synthetic CO2-neutral fuel. And that is already today!”

The event at the Nurburgring will mix young talent with legendary drivers and will see a return of F1 cars to the circuit for the first time in over a decade. Michael Schumacher was the last driver to run an F1 car around the Nordschleife in 2013, which marked the first show run since Nick Heidfeld’s outing in a BMW Sauber four years earlier.

The sustainable fuel to be used by Vettel at the Nurburgring falls in line with his stance on protecting the environment, which he said last year made him second-guess whether or not he wanted to continue racing when quizzed on whether his profession meant that he could be deemed a hypocrite.

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“It does, it does, and you’re right when you laugh,” he said during an appearance on Question Time. “There’s questions I ask myself every day and I’m not a saint. Certain things are in my control and certain things are not. It’s my passion to drive a car, I love it and every time I step in the car I love it. When I get out of the car, of course I’m thinking as well, is this something that we should do, travel the world, wasting resources?”

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Vettel’s participation could signal a possible return to motorsport over the coming months after he took part in the annual Race of Champions event in Sweden at the start of this year. He cited a desire to spend more time with his family upon retiring from F1 in December and has stayed out of the spotlight for the most part ever since.

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