In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel lost out in the Race of Champions to world rally legend Sebastien Loeb in the Champion of Champions tournament in Sweden
In brief
Loeb beats Vettel to be crowned ROC Champion of Champions
Nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb became a four time Race of Champions winner in Sweden after defeating Sebastian Vettel for the Champion of Champions title.Loeb defeated Vettel in four heats in the best of five final to be crowned the Race of Champions winner around a longer version of the frigid, frozen course than the one Team Norway had claimed the Nations Cup on the day before.
Vettel had eliminated IndyCar driver Colton Herta and five-time Race of Champions winner Tom Kristensen on his way to the final, while Loeb had dispatched Oliver Solberg and Mattias Ekstrom to meet Vettel in the final.
Two time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick knocked out Haas driver Mick Schumacher in the preliminary round, before losing out in the round of 16 to Colton Herta.
It was the first time the Race of Champions event had been held since the onset of the Covid pandemic, having last been held back in 2019.
Leclerc extends Formula Regional Asian Championship lead as Montoya departs
Ferrari academy driver Arthur Leclerc extended his lead in the Formula Regional Asian Championship to a commanding 35 points after taking a win and a third place in the final two races at the Dubai Autodrome.
Leclerc, who came into the third round already in the lead of the championship, finished third in race two behind race winner and fellow Ferrari academy driver Dino Beganovic and Michael Belov.
Leclerc took advantage of a mistake by leader Pepe Marti to take the lead with ten minutes remaining and held on to take the chequered flag and increase his lead in the championship to 35 points.
It was a difficult third race for Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar and Mercedes driver Paul Aron, who were classified 24th and 25th, respectively.
Having finished fourth in race three, Montoya will now depart the championship in order to focus on racing in Europe.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Are you ready? 👀#essereFerrari 🔴 @Charles_Leclerc @Carlossainz55 pic.twitter.com/KjjMJDNgy0
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 6, 2022
A first glimpse of the #️⃣1️⃣ #F1 pic.twitter.com/4btNtAhFUQ
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 6, 2022
Oh Seb…! 😂😂😂#ROCSweden pic.twitter.com/MPF8EoZqJe
— #ROCSweden (@RaceOfChampions) February 6, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
'No more tennis!' Medvedev spends day kart racing alongside F1 drivers (Tennis.com)
"The world No. 2 is a major F1 fan and even made a trip down to Monaco last year to take in the Monte-Carlo Grand Prix action. The Russian posted a few videos of himself suited up on Friday and racing around the track alongside his professional friends."
"Patrick Harding has been Alex Albon's personal coach for four years now. The high performance coach from Portlaoise has seen Albon move through three different racing series, and three different teams in his time in F1."
Here’s Every New Car Coming to Gran Turismo 7 (GT Planet)
"We’ve been hearing about GT7’s launch day car list for a little while, with the most recent figure being 428 cars — as shown in a Behind the Scenes video on an in-game screen. With State of Play divulging more than 400 cars from the list, we’re now at roughly 420 vehicles accounted for."
Fangio’s Farewell: A Legendary 300 SL Last Owned by El Maestro (RM Sotheby's)
"Exclusively offered from RM Sotheby’s Private Sales division, a beloved 300 SL from Fangio’s personal museum."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
This weekend’s Caption Competition winner is Blundercat!:
“When you said you were gonna teach me how to block, Seb, this isn’t what I had in mind…”
Blundercat
Thanks to everyone who came up with caption idea this week and a special mention to @sonnycrockett, @ninjabadger and @Frasier who all came up with particularly good captions.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Victor and Rebecca!
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
7th February 2022, 0:59
Congrats to Seb L, but some nice results from Seb V and Jamie there too.
The colour on that Ferrari render snippet looks nice, but somehow the wheel doesn’t look round (and I am not referring to the aero winglet). Maybe it’s the positioning of the Pirelli graphics?
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
7th February 2022, 1:07
And I wonder if they should have a special award in the ROC if, say, someone reaches 5 titles. They could call it the
“Race of Champions Champion of Champions Champion” !
Jockey Ewing
7th February 2022, 2:44
I can confirm, that the wheel not looks round at my device. Although, I do not know what is the reason of it. Yeah, it is maybe an optical illusion. To me the wheel feels a bit elliptical, or the Pirelli graphics is not centered, or: the car arrived into the picture after or while doing heavy braking, thus the tyre looks a bit skewed, because there is so (too) much grip :D
Seb Vettel was funny, I really liked the snow throwing effort, he is not lacking when it is about having ideas.
Napier Railton (@napierrailton)
7th February 2022, 4:43
Sad times… I miss Pastor Maldonado.
He made ever race more exciting. Every time someone went wheel to wheel with him, you didn’t know who would survive.
And he could be bloody fast on a good day!
Yes
7th February 2022, 8:06
You get to enjoy max now though :p
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
7th February 2022, 9:46
Beat me to it!
Dex
7th February 2022, 13:18
Or Lewis. Same thing with him when there’s real racing to be had. He had a few “holiday” seasons, so there was no need to fight anyone on track. When there’s someone fighting he finds himself in the same kind of situation (like with Rosberg that season, or even kicking Albon out every time he’d fight him on track). Very dominating cars give you the luxury to be more calm, driving something that Maldonado did… You either be “crazy” and try something or you end up where expected.
I have an opinion
7th February 2022, 4:56
Whenever you mention Leclerc or Montoya in a headline or article, please mention their given names if it’s not Charles or Juan Pablo. Thanks.
jff
7th February 2022, 8:13
Every time they mention Verstappen, I think they refer to Jos :P
Tristan (@skipgamer)
7th February 2022, 8:16
Why? It’s their name too. It’s pretty easy to figure out that Juan Pablo Montoya isn’t driving in the Formula Regional Asian Championship.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th February 2022, 9:04
@skipgamer True, albeit a quick glimpse can still temporarily mislead someone.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th February 2022, 9:02
@I have an opinion I’ve occasionally fallen into the same trap with them, although not really with, for example, the Schumacher name regardless of which Schumacher is in question.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
7th February 2022, 16:13
I hate that Zhao Guanyu need to change his name to Guanyu Zhao only to be called Zhao like all his brothers.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
7th February 2022, 8:05
There’s two Ekstrom, an Auriol, a Solberg, and a Kristofferson. But only a legendary rally driver named Seb that can beat Seb.
(also one eSport driver)
Jere (@jerejj)
7th February 2022, 9:10
@ruliemaulana Also two Solbergs, but otherwise spot-on.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th February 2022, 9:09
Medvedev attending the Monaco GP is unsurprising as he resides in Monaco (for tax evasion, of course).
I checked his Twitter account for images from the karting occasion, which somehow also features Albon, albeit in a different suit.
What I find surprising, though, is Medvedev wearing a JB helmet & Kvyat 2019 Toro Rosso overalls rather than Alpine ones.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
7th February 2022, 10:28
@jerejj
You mean for tax efficiency reasons :)
Robbie (@robbie)
7th February 2022, 15:42
@jerejj I would think you likely intend to accuse Medvedev of tax ‘avoidance’ rather than the alleged illegal activity of tax evasion, no? Just to be clear, by Medvedev living in Monaco he is avoiding paying taxes, which is perfectly legal as it means he has chosen to live in Monaco and abide by their system. If he was ‘evading’ taxes that means that no matter where he was living he would be guilty of literally refusing to pay taxes owed or of using dodgy means to shade his income and/or use improper write-offs etc etc. to pay some amount less than he technically is legally bound to pay. And for all you know, if he still has a home in Russia, or other homes wherever in the world, he may well be paying whatever property taxes or what have you are owed in those other countries too. Not everyone who lives in a tax haven such as Monaco is evading taxes. Avoiding? Sure. That’s fair game.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th February 2022, 17:38
@robbie Perhaps I should’ve typed avoidance instead, although my intention was half-sarcastic anyway.
Robbie (@robbie)
7th February 2022, 18:01
@jerejj Lol yeah it’s not like I thought you were accusing the man of being a low-life wretch or anything like that.
amian
7th February 2022, 17:31
Loeb is such a legend. Pushing on 50 years old and still beating everybody else left and right.
Certainly one if not THE greatest motorsport driver in history.
Sidney Vianna
7th February 2022, 17:54
Seb could make BILLIONS selling his hair growth formula. https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/EsxF3qBXMAAEeqc-1110×737.jpg