Sebastian Vettel talks about the first race he remembers watching and the most meaningful moments in Formula 1

Race three of the 2019 Formula 1 season is going to be a big one: the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix is a momentous event in the history of motor sport, as it sees Formula One tick over onto its 1,000th race. Since the first ever F1 race – the 1950 British Grand Prix – it has been regarded as the pinnacle of racing, with some great names having taken the chequered flag – along with a few lesser known drivers.

The first 999 rounds of the world championship have been won by 105 different drivers from 23 different countries. Only 33 have taken 10 or more race wins. Those 999 victories have been shared between an even smaller number of teams – just 34 constructors have managed to get their drivers on top of the podium.

Five of those – Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Mercedes and Lotus – have won 701 of all world championship races so far. Nine teams have claimed a single victory – the most recent being Toro Rosso in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, steered to glory by future world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Scuderia Ferrari’s German driver was asked about his first contact with a Formula 1 Grand Prix as well as the most memorable moments in Formula 1, with just a few days until the sport celebrates its 1,000th race: “There are so many races I could choose. My father watched every Formula One race, so I basically followed him and watched all of them too, even the ones at night – or at least I tried to when I wasn’t falling asleep” – Sebastian Vettel admitted, as reported by the FIA Official Magazine – “The first race I actually remember watching was Ayrton Senna’s first win in Brazil. I think it was 1991 and he was so exhausted because he’d lost part of the gearbox or was missing gears and he couldn’t even lift the trophy. But I was just three years old, so it’s really just images, like a sense memory.”

“After that, the ones that really mean something to me from when I was a kid were the races from Michael Schumacher’s Benetton days, when he was racing at Hockenheim, in front of a full stadium section, with German flags everywhere and a real sense of occasion. Those were amazing to me. After that I started racing myself and I guess I watched a lot of races, though not so much in recent years, because I’m in them!” – Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel concluded.