As part of a daily series in the run-up to the start of pre-season, Motorsport Week brings you brief left-field reflections and stories of teams, drivers and reserve/test drivers that will be part of the Formula 1 paddock in 2019.
All eyes were on Maranello when Sebastian Vettel climbed into Ferrari’s 2012-spec car during a private test late in 2014, as he prepared to make the switch from Red Bull.
But it wasn’t his first taste of Ferrari Formula 1 machinery.
Earlier in 2014, before Vettel put pen to paper on a three-year Ferrari deal, the then-Red Bull racer was part of a promotional event held at the Red Bull Ring, as Formula 1 prepared to return to Austria.
Vettel was present with his RB9 while Gerhard Berger was also there – with the Ferrari F1-87C that he famously piloted to victory at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix.
Vettel couldn’t resist and, dressed in his Red Bull overalls and helmet, got behind the wheel of a car which had been restored across a 25-year period, and which on that day was run by Ferrari mechanics that worked at the team in 1988.
“That was really good,” Vettel was quoted shortly after bringing the run to a close. “I would love to drive on. That makes you want to go back in time and take part back in those days. You are crapping yourself a bit, to be honest. It’s such a blast though.”
