After deciding to retire from Formula One in 2022, the four-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel has announced his plans for a motorsport comeback, at least in a testing capacity for the time being.
This coming week Sebastian Vettel will test new waters behind the wheel of a hypercar at Motorland Aragón in Spain. The German driver will test drive for Porsche Penske Motorsport team, in their Porsche 963.
Porsche Penske Motorsport have been preparing for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with a 36-hour long run in Spain. Sebastian Vettel has been preparing extensively at the simulator for the same.
The German driver’s first few laps with the hypbrid prototype happened yesterday (Thursday), at a rollout of the Porsche 963 on Porsche’s test track in Weissach.
Sebastian Vettel said, “I’m looking forward to testing the Porsche 963. I already got the chance to get a feel for the car during a rollout in Weissach.”
“I’ve always followed other racing series and my curiosity for endurance events encouraged me to just give it a shot. Now I’m excited about the long run in Aragon and I’m looking forward to my time behind the wheel.”
“It’ll definitely take an adjustment and some getting used to but everyone in the team is very open and helps me. This will be a new experience for me.”
“We will then see what happens next in this respect – at the moment there are no further plans for the future.”
Vettel has been working with the team in steadfastly since March 14, when he first met the operations crew.
“We’re delighted that Sebastian Vettel is interested in our Porsche 963,” stated Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport.
“There was no question for us that we’d be thrilled to support his request for an opportunity to test and provide him with extensive preparation and plenty of time to drive our hybrid prototype – there’s no doubt we’ll learn a lot from his valuable feedback.
“Our 36-hour long run with Porsche Penske Motorsport and our works drivers at Motorland Aragón offers a perfect environment for this.”
Despite having a long and a highly-decorated career in Formula One, it will be a new adrenaline-inducing challenge for the four-time World Champion and 53-time Grand Prix winner.