Sebastian Vettel brings back iconic F1 role as he snoops on McLaren

Vettel and Ricciardo — Photo: © LAT Images

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel brings back iconic F1 role as he snoops on McLaren

The four-time world champion made an eagerly-awaited appearance at the festival this weekend

Dan Davis

Sunday 16 July 2023 21:27

Sebastian Vettel brought back his iconic 'Inspector Seb' role whilst visiting McLaren at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Four-time world champion Vettel made a stunning return behind the wheel of an F1 car this weekend after driving Williams' iconic FW14B at the famous hill climb and finishing off his run with doughnuts, all whilst driving using e-fuel.

Since retiring at the end of the 2022 season, Vettel has been keen to remain in and around motorsport and has not ruled out an F1 comeback in the future, albeit in a different capacity.

For now, however, he is content to take a back seat and will also take Ayrton Senna's MP4/4 for a hill climb run, again with synthetic fuels.

Between the action, Vettel dropped into McLaren's temporary garage, in which an array of their cars are displayed to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

Vettel drove the iconic FW14B at the famous hill climb

Snooping Seb strikes again

And in a heartwarming video shared on the team's Twitter page, Vettel was caught on camera running the rule over the collection, hands deep in his pockets.

The caption read, "You can take Sebastian Vettel out of F1, but Inspector Seb will never leave..." and was accompanied by an undercover spy emoji.

The moment will have reminded fans of his glittering spell in F1, in which he became synonymous with taking a close look at his competitors' cars.

He then later drove the McLaren MP4/8 from 1992 up the hill following his earlier run in the Williams.

Sebastian Vettel drove the McLaren MP4/8 at Goodwood

You can take Sebastian Vettel out of F1, but Inspector Seb will never leave…🕵️‍♂️😉#McLarenFOS @OKX pic.twitter.com/PLyYOkAPkm
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 16, 2023

Vettel is the third-most successful driver in the history of the sport in terms of race wins and his status may see him go on to work with the FIA, the governing body.

Asked if he could see a future operating back in F1, he said: "We'll see, I have some ideas. I went to the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this year.

"I had a very good meeting with [F1 president] Stefano Domenicali."

You can watch the Goodwood Festival of Speed on this stream: