Whenever Formula 1 visits the United States, NBA somehow gets involved. It seems both sports appreciate the co-existence and wants to penetrate both fanbases. In 2021, F1 drivers were pitted in a free throw challenge, and Sebastian Vettel, in all seriousness, wanted to outdo everyone.
So before the start of the event, Vettel was spotted working on his free throws by a fan. However, he was missing on his tries and looks helpless in the following event.
Despite that, Vettel seemed to have the edge over his F1 opponents, as the German race driver has admitted to having followed NBA before and always saw Michael Jordan as his idol during his childhood. He also wanted to be like him, but in the end, motorsport became his true calling.
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Sebastian Vettel wins $15000 by getting the most free-thrown ins
While during the practice, it seemed like Vettel was not nailing the hoop. However, he came out to be F1’s, Karl Malone. He and his former teammate Lance Stroll scored nine free throws out of the 20 attempts to seal the contest.
Probably keeping Malone as an inspiration, who has the record if most free throws scored in NBA: 9,787, Vettel strived to be better. Though it’s nowhere near Malone’s success rate of 74.20%, which is impressive, to say the least. But Vettel bagged in $16,000 by winning the contest.
The former Aston Martin pair then chose the Ann Richards School Foundation to donate the handsome amount. With Vettel already retired from F1, he won’t be there for any more NBAxF1 events to participate in. Thus, the fans would be denied Vettel’s basketball penchant.
Aston Martin’s biggest Vettel regret
The alliance between Vettel and Aston Martin happened with the hope of the Silverstone-based team seeing a surge in their position in the F1 standings. After having an extraordinary 2020 as Racing Point, the team was eyeing to rule the midfield before vying with the big guns.
And seeing the four-time world champion joining the ranks, it seemed like the promises could be delivered. But only the opposite happened, and that’s because the drivers lacked the edge to compete, but Aston Martin did present poor cars in the following two seasons.
Nevertheless, Vettel pulled them up several times, but it wouldn’t work for long with the teams with better machinery. That’s why Tom McCullough, the performance director at Aston Martin, admitted that he regrets not touching the full potential of Vettel.
He cited Azerbaijan 2021, where Vettel brought a P2 podium for them, to claim that Vettel was still an impactful force under the right conditions. Alas, the Germna race driver decided to retire at the end of last season, and Aston Martin looks ahead with Fernando Alonso as the replacement.
