Sebastian Vettel brought F1 back to the Nürburgring, and the pictures are predictably excellent

The sound of V8-engined F1 cars filled the Eifel mountains on Saturday, as Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel combined for the ‘Red Bull Formula Nürburgring’ celebration. Does exactly what it says on the tin and all that.

We’re told that over 60,000 fans attended the showcase, with Vettel driving a full lap of the 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit in his championship-winning 2011 RB7. Sadly, he didn’t set a lap time, but it’s the first time an F1 car has been around the circuit since Michael Schumacher’s demo run in a Mercedes in 2013.

"I feel like I'm in a time capsule – a lot of memories came up once I got into the car,” said Vettel. “Somehow everything fits together here today – including the fact that we are now running the car with CO2-neutral fuel.”

Yep, the RB7 car and others across the event were running on e-fuels. "Motorsport is my great passion and I want to keep the sport alive,” said the four-time champ. “Fuels can be produced synthetically and serve as a substitute fuel. It is important that we all become aware that we must do something. And the great thing is – you don't feel any difference in the car, it's just as much fun driving it on synthetic fuel.”

Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard also lapped the ‘Ring in Vettel’s old RB8, and current AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda spent some time in the exceptionally cool Honda NSX GT3 Evo. Gerhard Berger and Ralf Schumacher were also on hand for demo drives, as was one Jos Verstappen in the Ford SuperVan 4.2.

Obviously, the images were always going to be decent, but we’ve just spent a worrying amount of time staring at that shot of Mathias Lauda driving his late father’s Ferrari 312 B3-74. Stunning.