Sebastian Vettel teams up with compatriot Mick Schumacher to contest the ROC Nations Cup, representing Team Germany. Both drivers will also compete in the individual competition, Race Of Champions.
Aiming to claim a ninth ROC Nations Cup title for Team Germany, four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ reserve driver Mick Schumacher will reunite to contest the Race of Champions 2023.
“I’m delighted that Mick will be joining me at the Race Of Champions again - for my first race since my retirement from Formula 1,” Vettel said.
“Neither of us has much experience on snow and ice, so it was a steep learning curve in Sweden earlier this year.
“I ended up surprising myself by getting to the individual final against Sebastien Loeb, and now I can’t wait to come back and team up with Mick to see if we can take Team Germany all the way to another ROC Nations Cup title.”
As a team, they reached the ROC Nations Cup finals in 2019, finishing second behind Team Nordic, led by Tom Kristensen and Johan Kristoffersson.
That same year, they faced one another at the ROC in the individual group stage, with Mick beating his countryman.
Last month, the youngest driver to become Formula One World Champion in the series’ history made his 299th Grand Prix start in Abu Dhabi.
Following his decision to retire by the end of the season, Vettel, 35, crossed the finish line in 10th place with his Aston Martin AMR22, wrapping up the season and a remarkable career at the pinnacle of motorsport.
For his part, Schumacher, who for the last two years drove in Formula One for the Haas F1 Team, completed the first chapter of his journey in the series with the American squad, which chose not to retain the German for the upcoming season.
Instead, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team signed the 23-year-old as a reserve driver to work with the Brackley-based outfit trackside as running on the simulator, helping to develop the W14 challenger.
Speaking about his third appearance at ROC, teaming up with Vettel, Schumacher commented: “It’s great to be back at the Race Of Champions and to see all the drivers again. Even better that Sebastian will be competing too so that Team Germany can hopefully live up to the tradition of fighting for the title in the ROC Nations Cup.”
“I’m really looking forward to driving on ice again and to spending time and fighting battles with this impressive roster of drivers attending,” he added.
The driver’s top line-up includes former F1 Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and three-time W Series Champion Jamie Chadwick, representing Team Great Britain.
Team Norway’s reigning champions, Petter and Oliver Solberg, as Team Finland’s two-time F1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen and 10-time F1 race winner Valtteri Bottas.
Also making a return to the race is ‘Mr. Le Mans’ Tom Kristensen and seventeen-time World Rally Championship winner Thierry Neuville.
Debutants reigning FIA Formula 2 Champion Felipe Drugovich and IndyCar Felix Rosenqvist will join the stellar field.
Organizers reveal other names will be announced in the lead-up to the event.
“We are very happy that Mick will be racing with us again at ROC Sweden,” ROC President Fredrik Johnsson stressed.
“His father, Michael, has stayed in the thoughts of everyone involved with the Race Of Champions with a banner in Michael’s honor unfurled before every ROC event. But there can be no finer legacy than to have Michael’s son Mick competing with us.”
Partnering with seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, Vettel won six straight titles from 2007 to 2012 for Team Germany.
The ROC 2023 will run from January 28 to 29 on the snow and ice of Sweden’s Pite Havsbad, only 60 miles from the Arctic Circle.
