Vettel grabs next to prestigious Champion of Champions title

Champions from a wide variety of disciplines competed this weekend for the prestigious title of 'Champion of Champions.' An added difficulty was that the event was in the snow, not a natural habitat for, say, a Formula One driver like Sebastian Vettel.

Nevertheless, Vettel proved to feel perfectly at home in the cold and on the very slippery track. The German even made it to the final, where he had to lose out to multiple rally champion Sebastien Loeb. In the first heat, Vettel briefly hit the snow wall, causing him to lose valuable seconds. Loeb took full advantage of this miss. Also in the second heat, Loeb was significantly faster. At least three seconds, the Frenchman was faster than Vettel.

In the third heat, Loeb seemed to be on his way to the final victory, but he crashed into the wall. This meant that a fourth and decisive heat had to be completed. Vettel seemed to be the fastest, but in the last metres, Loeb passed him. Loeb thus won the title for the fourth time.

Earlier in the day, Vettel competed in the semifinals against Tom Kristensen. Kristensen had problems with his car in the first heat and fell silent. For Vettel, it was then a matter of reaching the finish without damage. In the second heat, Kristensen managed to finish, but Vettel was a fraction faster.

Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher were also present at the event. The Finn was only active on Saturday during the Nations Cup. Schumacher did not make it beyond the first lap on Sunday. Motorsport stars such as Helio Castro Neves, Jimmy Johnson, Colton Herta and David Coulthard also competed (unsuccessfully) for the title.