4 time World Champion Sebastian Vettel amazed by Sim Racers’ talent

Sebastian Vettel expresses his admiration for Sim Racers.

Sebastian Vettel Via PlanetF1

The 32nd rendition of The Race Of Champions is well and truly underway in Piteå, Sweden. Former F1 driver Sebastian Vettel is competing along with his protégé, Mick Schumacher for Team Germany. The Race of Champions is an international motorsports event held each year. ROC features some of the greatest racing and rally drivers.

It is the only competition in the world where stars from all major championships such as Formula One, WRC, IndyCar, NASCAR, Sportscars and touring cars compete against each other, going head-to-head in identical cars. The drivers are gradually eliminated using the round-robin format, with the final 8 entering a knockout tournament.

Vettel has been a regular participant in the event since 2006. During the 2022 edition of ROC, the 4 time Word Champion was bested by F1 eSports World Champion, Lucas Blakely in a head-to-head race. The pair went against each other in the all-electric World RX2e car on the special double-looped circuit, Blakeley clocked a time of in 1:02.281, less than a tenth ahead of Vettel.

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“It’s very tough,” Sebastian Vettel recalls his sole Sim Racing adventure

Team eROC with Team Germany Via WTF1.com

At the ROC press conference, Vettel was asked to share his opinion on the sim racers’ involvement in the prestigious event. “Obviously I’m not the expert to ask, because I don’t have that much experience behind the sim wheel. But it’s very tough, you need a lot of practice. Obviously we’ve seen many examples, also last year, they did incredibly well also jumping behind the wheel of the real cars and doing really well.” Vettel said.

Vettel was then asked about his own foray into sim racing. “I tried one during the lockdown and…I was so bad. Like, so bad. And then, I phoned you [WRC champion Petter Solberg] after and I was like, ‘how the hell do you manage to do it so well?’ because I was really struggling. And I’d grown up with video games, and I’ve done little bits, I thought ‘I will be okay, I’ll sign up.“ Notably, Vettel raced in the Legends Trophy Sim Race during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Revenge is sweet for Seb! ?

Sebastian Vettel defeats @LucasBlakeley01 in a rematch of their 2022 showdown ?#F1 #ROCSweden @RaceOfChampions pic.twitter.com/XzMHRqVART
— Formula 1 (@F1) January 28, 2023

For Motorsport outsiders, it is extraordinary to witness regular sim racers competing with some of the biggest names in the community. Lucas Blakely and Jarno Opmeer will be representing Team eROC in this year’s edition. In recent years, Sim Racing has provided a fantastic opportunity to up and coming racers who may not have the financial backing required to succeed in the conventional manner. Hopefully Sim Racing can continue to grow and provide the racers with more opportunities to translate their online success to real life.