New speculation about comeback
Vettel returns to the race track in a Porsche
March 22, 2024, 2:13 p.m
Sebastian Vettel may have retired from Formula 1, but the 36-year-old has not completely let go of motorsport. The racing icon climbs into a prototype for Porsche for the 24-hour race in Le Mans. However, Vettel remains silent about his own ambitions.
Sebastian Vettel remains open to a comeback in motorsport and is taking part in tests for Porsche. The four-time Formula 1 world champion will drive a racing car for the first time in Spain next week for Porsche Penske Motorsport, which will also be competing in the endurance classic at Le Mans this year. The 53-time Grand Prix winner has already got used to the Motorland Aragon circuit in the simulator. On Thursday, Vettel took his first short drive with the Porsche 963 on the in-house test track at the Weissach development center.
“I’ve always followed other racing series and my curiosity for long distances encouraged me to just give it a try. Now I’m excited about the endurance race in Aragon and am looking forward to my time behind the wheel,” explained Vettel. “It will definitely take some adjustment and some getting used to, but the entire team is very open and will help me with it. This will be a new experience for me.” There are no concrete further plans yet, such as a start at Le Mans. “We’ll see what happens next – at the moment there are no further plans for the future,” said Vettel.
Porsche’s head of motorsport, Thomas Laudenbach, explained: “There was no question for us that we would be happy to support his request for a test opportunity and give him extensive preparation and sufficient time behind the wheel of our hybrid prototype – we can certainly learn a lot from his valuable feedback .” Porsche Penske Motorsport is using a 36-hour endurance race next week in Spain as preparation for the season’s climax at Le Mans on June 15th and 16th.
Vettel has kept a return to motorsport open since his retirement from the premier class at the end of 2022. He recently got into old Formula 1 cars for show events. Last year he held talks with the British Jota team, a Porsche customer. In addition to his job as a reserve driver for the Formula 1 team Mercedes, Vettel’s friend Mick Schumacher also works for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship.