Fan favorites Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo to drive Red Bull Racing Nürburgring event
Fan favorites Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo will be teammates on Red Bull Racing again if only for a day.
The motorsports team said in a news release on Wednesday that the two drivers will get into the cockpits of Formula 1 cars to drive in a special event on Sept. 9 at the Nordschleife, part of the iconic Nürburgring grounds. According to Motorsport.com, the former teammates will each drive a car that they used when they were part of the Red Bull Racing F1 team — Ricciardo a RB8 from 2012 and Vettel a RB7 from 2011, when he won his second of four consecutive world championships. Vettel's car will run on e-fuel as he has been an advocate for environmental protection and sustainability.
“Motorsport is my passion,” Vettel said, per the publication. “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!”
Vettel, who retired at the end of last season, also shared the news on his Instagram page with a message in German. He expressed his excitement at returning to race around "Grüne Hölle" or "Green Hell," one of the most challenging tracks in the world.
Ricciardo is currently a reserve driver for Red Bull Racing's F1 team behind defending world champion Max Verstappen and veteran Sergio Pérez. He started on the junior team and climbed the ranks of the Formula ladder, making his debut for the F1 team in 2014 alongside Vettel. He won three races in what was Vettel's final year with the team before he left for Ferrari.
The Red Bull Racing event at Nürburgring is being advertised as a chance for fans to interact with their favorite drivers and cars. Other drivers and sights will be announced later.
This is the first time an F1 car will speed around Nordschleife since 2013 when a group of drivers appeared at the track, including F1 icon Michael Schumacher, who drove a 2011 Mercedes W02 car in a demonstration lap shortly after his second retirement.
The F1 German Grand Prix was originally raced on the Nordschleife, but it was deemed too dangerous after several crashes, including one in 1976 that seriously injured Niki Lauda. The race moved to Nürburgring's Grand Prix track, which was built in 1984. The race has been held on and off between Nürburgring and Hockenheimring with the last outing at the former in 2020 being the Eifel Grand Prix.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo to reunite at Red Bull Racing event
