Sebastian Vettel Left Disappointed With Himself as Four Years of F1 Neglect Manifests Into Tragic Reality

F1 drivers spend more time in foreign countries than in their hometowns and one would think that it will help them sharpen their geography skills. However, after 16 years in top-flight racing, Sebastian Vettel lacked behind in the race to show his F1 knowledge.

In the segment, ‘Grill the Grid’, each driver took part in a challenge to name a circuit for every letter in the alphabet. The defending champion of this competition, Vettel, failed to match his success in this updated game version.

In concluding all 26 letters, the interviewer mentioned, “Missed Red Bull Ring”, the backyard of the team he won four world championships with. Nevertheless, it was not long before he learned the German forgot to mention a track that holds a special place in his heart.

“Missed Nurburgring,” the interviewer said. The 35-year-old, disappointed with himself, replied “N, you asked for N and I said pass?”

To make matters worse, the clip presented us with exclusive footage showing the German voicing his home circuit prior to the game. The interviewer explained, “It has to be a circuit name, so yeah, we can go like old school circuits like there are a lot of gems where we do not race anymore. ”

Upon learning the rules, Vettel acclaimed, “Nurburgring, Hockenheim.” Unfortunately, when push came to shove in the middle of the game, he could not earn the points for the name of the tracks that represent the German GP.

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“I said it even before you see. It’s just what you can not think of in the moment,” he added. Indeed, in hindsight, he would have loved to give a shout-out to his home soil. He finished the game by scoring 10 points out of the possible 26.

Sebastian Vettel’s favorite part about Nurburgring

Nurburgring is a 4.8-mile-long circuit with a capacity to host 150,000 people on a Grand Prix weekend. However, the track lost its position in the ever-expanding F1 calendar, and in 2020, the sport visited the circuit over 7 years after Vettel won in 2013. The Aston Martin ace commented on his favorite part about his home track.

He said, “As far as the track is concerned, my favorite section is the part around the Dunlop hairpin. I don’t know if that’s her name. It is the area farthest from the start/finish area. Where it first goes down and you come up again, further through the ‘S’ up to the two bit curves. I think one of them was even called RTL Curve.” 

“This part is still the old part of the track and has a lot of character. It’s a shame that the Castrol-S, the chicane, no longer exists. The track was modified and the first part was somewhat choked off for us drivers. It’s not so rhythmic anymore. But the rest of the route is great.” (translated using google)

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A home race is where a driver receives the most support and is the star of the weekend, irrespective of his race result. Given that, it is a shame we failed to see the four-time world champion return to his roots and experience the love of the whole German crowd before his retirement.