Sebastian Vettel holds up the German flag as Race of Champions finalist, as Jamie Chadwick was out of his league for Mick Schumacher in the preliminary round …
After Mick Schumacher won all his duels in the Race of Champions in the Nations Cup, the Formula 1 driver was eliminated in the preliminary round of the individual competition on Sunday. For Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, it was the other way round.
Schumacher was one of four drivers to go through before the round of 16, where he had to deal with two-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick. A small mistake by Schumacher shortly before the finish sealed the Formula One driver’s defeat.
“I would have liked to drive more, that’s why I’m here. But I need to practice more, which means I need to drive more on ice and hopefully when it’s on ice again next year and I’m on the grid then, I’ll be a little bit faster,” Schumacher told the ‘Sky’ microphone.
He acknowledges his defeat against Chadwick without envy: “She drove very fast and did a good job. In the end, she deserved to get through then. As I said, more practice and then hopefully we’ll be better next year. “
Race of Champions: Sebastian Vettel makes it to the final
In contrast, things went much better for four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel on Sunday. The German advanced to the final, eliminating Emma Kimilainen, Colton Herta and Tom Kristensen along the way. The quarter-final win over Herta was particularly important, as it gave him revenge for his Nations Cup defeat on Saturday.
https://twitter.com/RaceOfChampions/status/1490285049253662724
But in the final, Vettel was outclassed by none other than nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb. Loeb quickly took a 2-0 lead in the “best-of-5” mode, but made a mistake in the third run, bringing Vettel to within 2-1. In race four, Loeb made the sack.
“It was a good fight for him for sure,” joked Vettel after the final. “He was just too fast. The conditions got more and more difficult and it got more and more slippery. I thought here and there I had a good run. But then I made mistakes here and there again. He drove really well and deserves the win. “
Vettel’s predecessor: four Germans in RoC final
The Race of Champions, a special event that takes place almost every year, brings together stars from different motorsport disciplines to determine the best of their guild. Current and former Formula 1 stars – this year, in addition to Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher, Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard also took part – then meet top drivers from the fields of IndyCar, rally or endurance racing.
The Race of Champions took place for the 31st time in 2022. For the first time, however, the race was held in Sweden on snow and ice. Germany is the record winner in the Nations Cup. Vettel won together with Michael Schumacher six times in a row between 2007 and 2012. In 2017, the four-time Formula 1 World Champion won on his own, in 2018 Rene Rast and Timo Bernhard triumphed in the service of Team Germany.
In the individual competition, only once in the history of the competition has a German made it onto the winners’ list: in 2015, Sebastian Vettel beat Tom Kristensen in the final in London. Apart from Vettel, his fellow countrymen Pascal Wehrlein (2014), Michael Schumacher (2007, 2009), Armin Schwarz (2001) and Walter Röhrl (1989) have also made it to the final.
