Sebastian Vettel was at the 2024 Imola GP to drive the 1993 McLaren car for a show run, in tribute to Ayrton Senna. Before going on this drive, Karun Chandhok revealed that the German promised him to drive quite close to the main straight pit wall. However, Vettel broke the promise on camera when Chandhok was there to shoot it.
The Sky Sports pundit posted this video on his Instagram. He stated, “So I saw Sebastian Vettel before he went out in his McLaren. And he promised me, he is going to really really close to this line”.
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However, when Vettel passed by the Indian former driver shooting his reel, he was quite far from the line, on the other edge of the track. Chandhok acknowledged the same but claimed that the car sounded amazing.
Vettel did several laps of the 1993 McLaren car at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari and also waved the Brazilian flag, paying homage to Ayrton Senna.
About driving the iconic car of the three-time champion, the former Red Bull driver got very emotional after completing his run. He stated, “To be here 30 years on [from Senna’s death], remembering both Ayrton [Senna] and also Roland [Ratzenberger], certainly very emotional.”
He acknowledged how much people loved when the car was running at full speed. Vettel further added, “When I brought the flag out, I think it was exploding when it comes to emotions. So yeah, really special”.
Senna Sempre ❤️#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/ZUS4CSAiAq
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 19, 2024
Vettel had planned this show run of the McLaren MP4/8 weeks before and had other things on his agenda too for the Emilia Romagna GP.
Sebastian Vettel’s emotional tribute to Ayrton Senna
Sebastian Vettel also led a track run to pay tribute to Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger’s deaths at the Imola track in May 1994. Before the run started, the German gave a touching speech, highlighting the significance of losing Senna and Ratzenberger on the same race weekend 30 years ago.
All drivers along with F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali were present for the track run that had stops at both corners where the two drivers crashed and lost their lives.
Vettel’s team had arranged special tribute T-shirts as well for everyone taking part in this run. The T-shirts were of the Brazilian flag colors with #SennaForever written on them.
