Four-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel has been confirmed to be making a special appearance at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The event, which takes place on July 13-16, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and will mark Vettel’s second appearance at the Festival, having previously celebrated his second F1 Championship by driving the title-winning Red Bull RB7 in 2012.
Vettel, who retired from F1 at the end of last season after 15 years, will be on driving duty on the Goodwood Hill in a range of cars from his personal collection, including Nigel Mansell’s Championship-winning Williams FW14B and Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/8 from the 1993 season.
The German will be in attendance on both Saturday and Sunday, with a display of his cars being available for all to view in the main paddocks.
Vettel will also take the opportunity to talk with people about his campaign for the use of alternative fuels in motorsport.
After running his FW14B on e-fuels at the 2022 British Grand Prix weekend, Vettel subsequently proceeded to launch “Race without Trace” in order to further display that combustion engines and e-fuels are viable solutions for racing in the future.
The Festival of Speed will be supporting Vettel’s wish to exclusively drive his historic cars only with the use of synthetic fuels and “approximately 20% of the vehicles at the event will run on alternative fuels – whether that’s hydrogen, electric or synthetic”.
Ahead of marking his return to Goodwood for the 2023 Festival of Speed, Sebastian Vettel said: “It’s great to be coming back to Goodwood after all these years. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of some of my most memorable cars which will be running on sustainable fuel over the weekend.
“I’m a passionate racer and it’s important to me that we continue to enjoy driving iconic racing cars today and in the future, but that we do so in a responsible way.”
The Duke of Richmond added: “I have fond memories of Sebastian’s first visit to the Festival of Speed in 2012 and am hugely excited to welcome him back to Goodwood.
“I know our fans will be delighted to have an opportunity to celebrate his incredible career and to see him in action on the Hill.
“His attitude towards sourcing alternative fuels absolutely aligns with our plans across the event and the wider Estate to ensure we are shining a light on this important topic and protect motorsport for the next generation.”
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