US Grand Prix 2013

Sebastien Vettle is unstoppable as The 2013 F1 Champion again, making him an historic 4-time Drivers Championship winner. The Wunderkind isn't slowing down either. He'll have two more races this year, Austin, Tx USA and Interlagos, Brazil, but the points are wrapped up with a very dominating season indeed.

I have a story from last year's USGP.  It was a fantastic weekend, we were there all three days along with 250,000 over the whole weekend- Historic Grand Prix, Ferrari Challenge, and Hamilton's gutsy pass of Vettle on a slick track to take the lead and the win on Sunday.

The driver parade commenced with the drivers riding seated on the rear decks of American muscle cars: Mustang, Camaro, Impala. Remembering this story brought me a chuckle.

Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen in the 2012 USGP Driver Parade

 

 

This is your shot!

The driver parade before each race lets fans wave to the drivers and vice versa.
It was recently announced this was Michael Schumachers' last year. He is re-retiring! After a struggling 4-year return with Mercedes as the sports greatest champion, this was Michael's second to last race and he sat atop the rear deck of a 1965 Mustang convertible. The Mustang was one of 24 local cars used in the drivers' parade.

But something was wrong...was there correct fuel pressure? Why not start? Michael leaned forward
to add to the consternation, but after a lengthy wait. he shrugged and hopped down and walked back to the next car inhabited by Kimi Raikkonen.  They proceeded towards Turn 1, close to where we were.

It must have been such an honor to have the 7-time world champion in your car, and what a crusher for it not to start! The car did fire up a few minutes later and the car's owner sped up the hill to Turn 1 where Michael and Kimi had progressed. Pulling alongside, you could imagine the owner's pleas: "It's fixed Michael! Please come back, ride in my car! I promise it won't break again!!"

Michel assented and the crowd gave a small cheer when Schumi dashed back over to the Mustang.
Schumacher's Mercedes had mechanical problems in the race putting him off the pace. It seemed the stall in the driver parade was a harbinger.

-katykarter