A little addition to Red Bull’s regular Friday post-practice press release was a list of the five tracks Sebastian Vettel would most like to race on.
Perhaps not surprisingly Le Mans and the traditional versions of Spa and Nurburgring all feature, but American fans will be delighted to know that on top is none other than Watkins Glen, which last hosted the US GP in 1980. The triple World Champion also ranked Laguna Seca – which he has sampled in a road car – in third place.
Here’s what he had to say in full:
1. Watkins Glen: “Because I’ve heard lots of good things about it, as in it’s a proper circuit, with lots of ups and down and loads of history. F1 used to go there but not anymore, so I’d like to try that.”
2. Le Mans: “I’ve been around there in Formula 3 but only a smaller track. I think it would be quite special to go around there in a real Le Mans prototype.”
3. Laguna Seca: “I’ve been there, but not in a race car – just a road car. It was still quite impressive though, so that might be a challenge.”
4. The original Spa-Francorchamps: “That would have been something. I think that was a proper man’s track, with lots of high-speed corners. I can’t imagine going through the Masta Kink in a modern Formula One car.”
5. Nordschleife (Nurburgring): “It just has to be there. I have done a couple of laps but I don’t remember most of the corners. It’s long and probably too tough for a modern Formula One car, because they’re too low. But even in a road car it’s special. I think you need big balls for the Fuchsröhre, the part where it goes downhill. You just stay flat and accelerate. You’re way above 200km/h and then you have this massive compression at the bottom and then you go uphill again and it’s just…. wow! Imagine doing that in a proper car in a 24-hour race, flat out through there at night. Amazing.”
Adam Cooper F1 