Sebastian Vettel who has won the Formula 1 drivers’ championship four times, has become a patron of, and will support the ADAC Formula 4 series.
Vettel himself started his car racing career in Formula BMW ADAC. Having won five races in his opening season, where he finished runner up. He returned to the series in 2004 and won the championship convincingly, picking up race wins in all but two of the twenty races. As a result the German driver has a deep history and association with the series.
The current Ferrari said; “I can well remember the early years of my career in single-seater racing and have a lot to thank the ADAC for. It was a fantastic time for me, but also very important in my development as a racing driver. That´s why I´m pleased to make a contribution, along with the ADAC, to increasing the attraction of Formula 4.
“I´ll be following the championship with great interest; these guys are going to be racing at a high level, and I´m sure that I´ll be seeing some of them eventually in Formula 1.”
The ADAC route has also helped many other drivers reach high levels of motorsport, including Vettel’s championship rival, Nico Rosberg and other current and past Formula One drivers; Timo Glock, Nico Hülkenberg and Ralf Schumacher.
“With Sebastian Vettel, we have gained a successful Formula 1 driver as patron to the new ADAC Formula 4 series, someone who gained first-hand experience of the ADAC´s youth development programme at the beginning of his career,” said ADAC Sports President Hermann Tomczyk who is pleased the driver is returning to his routes to support the next generation.
Meanwhile, Ralf Schumacher will continue his role of Patron to the ADAC Kart Masters, a role he has kept up since 2012. To add, he will also become a member of the ADAC Sports Foundation advisory council, where he will support talented youngsters competing in single-seater racing, motocross, motorcycling and karting.
