The Race of Champions was held last weekend for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, and Sebastian Vettel, after winning the competition for Team Germany for seven years in a row alongside Micheal Schumacher,  has once again proven his worth in it.

For the first time driving on a frozen, icy ground rather than in a stadium and in spite of a difficult Saturday in the team event with Team Germany kicked out at the quarter finals, regardless of Mick Schumacher's strong performances, Vettel managed to reach the final in the individual race, only losing out to nine-time WRC champion and four times ROC winner Sebastian Loeb. 

The Aston Martin driver has admitted that, while he is "still missing a bit" in terms of experience and off track racing knowledge, it is an experience that he has particularly enjoyed and that he'd like to do more of in the future.

"Obviously, you saw that I’m still missing a little bit. But I think I enjoy it a lot. I always enjoyed watching what they are doing. It is a different discipline so you’re still having fun with a car but it’s just there are a lot of differences," he said.

Vettel added that he wasn't entranced only by the driving part, but also by the technical discussions made to prepare the weekend:

"But it’s fascinating, we have a chat also over lunch to understand a little bit more, it’s not just you’re in the car and you’re driving. Very much like Formula 1 or in any category, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes, doing your pace notes and getting all the information you can, the same with us preparing the race and the analysis after."

"The sport progresses and there’s more to it than just driving which is also a challenge. So, for sure it’s not easy to just jump into it and be very good at it.You need the time and experience but if somebody is willing to give me a shot and a chance and has a lot of time, I’m happy to look at it," concluded the four times F1 champion.

Part of his fascination with the rather different racing style from what he's more used to is how, in Vettel's opinion, the driver has much more control over the car, and can rectify eventual mistakes in a much easier way than in single seaters:

“I think it’s something that is as a driver very satisfying, to play with the car and to have more margin.Normally when the car steps out you correct it immediately and you’ve lost a bit of time."

"Here I think there’s much more grey. You are sideways, maybe the timing’s a little bit off but you can correct it. Of course, you need to get into that really small window to be perfect. And you saw the difference! But it’s definitely something I enjoy," Vettel commented, referring to the final round of the individual competition, where he surrendered the title to Loeb only by eight tenths of a second.

"It’s something that I’m definitely not as used to when it comes to my driving style, normally, when the car goes sideways, I tried to correct it as soon as possible, and put it back straight, which here is not the fastest way."

Vettel, with a record combined number of nine wins between the team event and the individual competition, was glad to return to compete at ROC after a two years hiatus, and especially in front of the fans, in spite of the heavy snowfalls:

"It’s very exciting and I think it’s a great place in the world to be. It was a lot of work, the weather really didn’t help this weekend, and didn’t make the situation easier but the people were great."

"After missing out the Race of Champions the last two years and having the pandemic around the world it was great to be back and great to have a sense of normality as well, as much as it was possible. It was a very, very great comeback, and I would really like to come back to a place like this on snow and ice."

"It’s been fantastic for us to enjoy the different cars and also for the spectators even though today they had a bit of wind in their faces! But they seemed very happy and up for it, so I think it was very good." he concluded.