Sebastian Vettel has admitted he is excited to get back behind the wheel when he returns to racing at the famous Nurburgring in September.
The German retired from the sport at the end of last season after two years with Aston Martin. Vettel wanted to spend more time with his family, having won four world titles with Red Bull at this start of his career, but has now planned a return to the track with his former company.
Red Bull announced this week that Vettel will get back behind the wheel of the RB7 he drove to the 2011 title. It will happen on September 9 at the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife. On the same weekend of the track's 12-hour endurance race, the 'Red Bull Formula Nurburgring' event will see young driver and veterans take part in a series of demo runs.
Speaking on his return to the track, Vettel said of his planned drive: "The myth of the Nordschleife resonated, even if we 'only' drove the GP track at the time. In any case, it will be great fun to drive my RB7 – fuelled with e-fuel – on the Nordschleife as part of a show run.
"Motorsport is my passion. It's important to me to show that racing cars can run just as well and quickly with synthetic CO2-neutral fuel. And that is already today!"
The RB7 will not be the only F1 car that hits the track that day. Daniel Ricciardo, a reserve and promotional driver for Red Bull this season, will be driving an RB8 which was used by the team in 2012. The event marks the first time in 10 years an F1 car has hit the Nordschleife. Michael Schumacher got behind the wheel of a Mercedes car in 2013.
Vettel endured a memorable career in the sport and he was first offered an opportunity in Formula One in 2007 when he was offered a contract with Sauber. He had a short but sweet stint with Toro Rosso, before being promoted to Red Bull as they tried to compete alongside Lewis Hamilton's McLaren.
In his first season at Red Bull in 2009, Vettel finished second behind eventual champion Jenson Button. But that was the start of what would be total domination from Vettel in the F1 scene. He won the 2010 Drivers' Championships and went on to come out on top in the next three world championships to claim four in a row.
After a poor 2014 campaign, Vettel moved to Ferrari and spent six years with the organisation. He finished as high as second at Ferrari, but fell behind Hamilton as he began to dominate once again. Having finished 12th last season - the joint-lowest of his career, Vettel retired from the sport.
