Chinese GP Throwback: Sebastian Vettel Once Made a Brilliant Overtake in the Most Unusual Spot

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words: “But here comes Sebastian Vettel”? Probably the 2018 Belgium GP when Sebastian Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton as they went up Eau Rouge and onto the Kemmel Straight. The German has made some impressive overtakes throughout his F1 career, but the one made at the 2016 Chinese GP was certainly special, unusual, and unexpected at the same time. 

The Chinese GP was only the third race of the 2016 F1 season and Mercedes was on a roll with their dominance that started in 2014. However, Ferrari had caught up a little and was close to the Brackley team as Nico Rosberg qualified in pole position and Sebastian Vettel started P4. While the start of the race was alright, as soon the cars entered the swooping Turn 1, the chaos ensued. Daniil Kvyat went hot on the inside of Vettel, who had Kimi Raikkonen on the outside. In an attempt to avoid Kvyat, Vettel hit his teammate. 

This is where Kvyat got nicknamed the Torpedo by Sebastian Vettel. There were other crashes behind on the grid as well. To add to that, Ricciardo had a puncture on Lap 3 and the safety car was called. This is when Sebastian Vettel decided to make the memorable overtake. With the safety car out, Ferrari called Vettel, who was in P6 at the time, to change the front wing.

The German had Carlos Sainz in P5 and Nico Hulkenberg in P4 ahead of him. Coming into the pitlane, Hulkenberg was very cautious and going slowly. This is where Vettel had a great idea in his mind and accelerated into the pits, overtaking both Sainz and Hulkenberg on the inside in the pitlane entry, before the speed limit line. Great thinking by the 4X champion that helped him avoid the pitlane chaos, which otherwise would’ve seen him in the middle of the pack! Sebastian Vettel went on to finish P2 with Rosberg taking the win and Daniil Kvyat in P3.

But will we get to see more of such overtakes by Vettel in the future? Well, the racer did hint at having conversations with Toto Wolff. While he confirmed that the talks were not related to his comeback, who knows if Vettel might reconsider someday?

Sebastian Vettel calls Mercedes “one of the best seats on the grid”

Sebastian Vettel’s comeback to F1 has been rumored multiple times since he retired. The German did admit to having talks with Toto Wolff after Lewis Hamilton left the team, but suggested it wasn’t regarding the Mercedes seat. The 4X champ has also talked about how having a better seat will increase the prospect of him joining back, but a return isn’t something that he’s really considering.

Sebastian Vettel said, “I’ve had conversations with him [Toto Wolff], not really about the seat. We did speak about the whole situation in short as well. But I did speak to others as well because I’m still keeping in touch every now and then. I have some projects and ideas together with F1. We’ll see if they will turn out or not. So I am staying in touch. I don’t know. It has to be a couple more phone calls and conversations, I guess, to really find out a little bit more. But for sure it’s one of the best seats on the grid.”

Will Sebastian Vettel make a comeback to F1? Seems like that’s something that we’ll have to wait to find out!