Race of Champions greets Michael: Schumacher throws Vettel out and loses the final

The Race of Champions may be a fun event, but in the end everyone wants to win.

Race of Champions greets Michael: Schumacher throws Vettel out and loses the final

The Race of Champions may be a fun event, but in the end everyone wants to win. Mick Schumacher makes it to the final, wins against Sebastian Vettel but loses to Matthias Ekstrom. He remembers "big finals with Michael at this event".

Mick Schumacher even got Sebastian Vettel out of the way, but in the end just missed out on the triumph on ice and snow: The 23-year-old made it to the final of the traditional Race of Champions, where he was defeated by former DTM champion Mattias Ekström. For the 44-year-old Swede, it was the fourth victory at the motorsport event, and he now holds the record together with the French rally greats Sebastien Loeb and Didier Auriol.

Even a fire in the car didn't stop him against Mick Schumacher. "It's very emotional for me," said Ekstrom. "I've always had big finals with Michael at this event." That's nicer than winning, said the Swede and hugged Mick Schumacher. He wouldn't have had a problem finishing second either.

"I tried my best, but unfortunately it wasn't enough," replied Mick Schumacher. The day before, a banner honoring Michael Schumacher had been unfurled in Pite Havsbad, Sweden. "Keep fighting, Michael. We miss you," it read.

Vettel and Schumacher met in the semifinals in a German-German duel. Schumacher prevailed quite clearly in two runs. Vettel briefly lost control of the car in the first of two runs and sped through the snow barricades into Schumacher's lane. Back on his lap, the four-time Formula 1 world champion had no chance. With the victory in the second race, Mick Schumacher confirmed his top form before he found his master in the former Michael Schumacher conqueror from Sweden. Together Vettel and Schumacher had reached the semi-finals as Team Germany in the Nations Cup on Saturday, victory went to Norway in the end.

In the team classification of the Race of Champions, which is always contested with different types of vehicles, Germany is still the record champion by a wide margin: Vettel and Michael Schumacher won the title six times in a row between 2007 and 2012, with Germany winning a total of eight times.

Vettel ended his Formula 1 career after last season, but participation in the Race of Champions is a tradition for the 35-year-old. He took part for the eleventh time, once (2015) Vettel won the title. Schumacher will also not be a regular driver in the upcoming Formula 1 season, which begins on March 5 in Bahrain. As a substitute driver at Mercedes, he still belongs to the premier class.