News: Sebastian Vettel goes Infiniti Drifting at Future Russian F1 track in Sochi

sebastian vettel david coulthard redbull racing infiniti sochi russia f1
David Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel, RedBull Racing, and Infiniti in Sochi, Russia

Infiniti, RedBull, Sebastian Vettel, and David Coulthard recently visited the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.  The purpose of the visit was to promote the upcoming 2014 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Russia as well as the 2014 Winter Olympics.  It also gave Sebastian Vettel the opportunity to be the first active F1 driver to visit and drive the yet unfinished Sochi circuit.

Infiniti increased their sponsorship commitment with the RedBull F1 team this year and also hired Sebastian Vettel as the Director of Performance at Infiniti.  This means that the young three-time F1 World Champion will participate in development and tuning of all future Infiniti production vehicles.  In fact, he brought a 2013 Infiniti FX Vettel Edition with him to Russia and used it to scout the Sochi International Street Circuit.  Also, him and David Coulthard (former F1 driver) did a few runs around the construction site in a pair of Infiniti M sedans.  This turned into an impromptu mud and dirt drifting session which looked and sounded very fun.

sebastian vettel russia infiniti f1 sochi track circuit map

In an interview, Vettel commented that the Sochi circuit layout looks very fun as it weaves around two brand new (still unfinished) Olympic stadiums.  He noted that he could not drive the whole length of the 3.7 mile track, but the schematic shows several fast speed corners and good opportunities for overtaking.   This was Vettel’s first visit to Russia and he said he was looking forward to returning spectate the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and then coming back in the Fall of 2014 for the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of Russia.

Take a look at this video (provided by Infiniti) of Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard playing in the dirt in a pair of Infiniti sedans.  Would have been awesome if they were driving F1 cars through this construction site!

Andre Smirnov
Andre Smirnov

Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, software engineer, writer, and reporter. He has been writing and reporting at TFLcar since 2011. When not working or spending time with the family – you can find him tinkering in the garage or scouring the internet and other media for various automotive, mechanical, and computer related information.