After a gray Saturday with a poor qualifying, Vettel was able to smile at the start of this Sunday as he enjoyed a multi-lap show in the Williams FW14B in which Nigel Mansell won the 1992 title.
It is 30 years since that crown and the four-time champion wanted to pay tribute to the ‘Lion’ by re-rolling the car that made him champion, and which in fact belongs to Vettel himself after buying it at an auction at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed .
Sebastian Vettel paid almost three million euros for the 08 chassis of the Williams FW14B and, to continue his fight against pollution and for a sustainable world, the car has been equipped with carbon neutral fuels.
“Motorsport is our passion, it’s what we grew up with. And it’s important to find a way that we can do it responsibly to keep these cars and history alive.”
And as promised, those sustainable tweaks made the car sound no different than it did 30 years ago, so fans at the 2022 F1 British GP were treated to the essence of another storied generation of single-seaters.
Video: Vettel’s exhibition with Mansell’s Williams at Silverstone
(Click here if the video does not appear)
And not just the fans. We also saw Vettel’s current grid mates, such as his former rival Lewis Hamilton, come over to enjoy the car.
Mansell won that world championship in August, with total superiority, and was close to doubling the second-placed teammate Riccardo Patrese in points. Another of the peculiarities of that car that fell in love with Vettel is the red number 5 on the nose, the same number that the German uses in F1 since there are permanent numbers.
In addition, this weekend Vettel has made a change to his helmet to, in an elegant way, pay homage to Mansell’s world championship, adding a shadow or silhouette of the design worn by the Briton in a very subtle way, below his usual flag of Germany. And, on one side, the message Race without trace (Run without leaving a trace).
In fact, before the exhibition, Mansell himself has signed Vettel’s helmet, as our colleague Adam Cooper has been able to capture.
At 35 years old, Vettel is still analyzing whether to prolong his career in Formula 1 (it has been 17 seasons) or if it is time to retire, without options for a car with which to fight for everything again. Congratulations Seb!
