Sebastian the Fifth – Vettel, the German number 5 in Maranello

Maranello – When, on 13th March, Sebastian Vettel will settle into the cockpit of his car for the first free practice session of the 2015 season, he will become the fifth German to have officially driven a Ferrari Formula 1 car.

The previous one was the great Michael Schumacher, who drove 180 Grands Prix for the Scuderia, winning 72 of them and taking five world titles. Another German to make a significant contribution to the Ferrari story was Wolfgang Von Trips, who seemed to be heading for the 1961 World Championship title, but was killed in an horrific accident at Monza, which also claimed the lives of 14 spectators. He raced for Ferrari in 25 Grands Prix, winning two of them.

The remaining two on this list played a less significant role: Kurt Adolff took part in the 1953 German Grand Prix in an Ecurie Espadon 166, but had to retire, while Hans Stuck Snr. also entered by Ecurie Espadon took part in qualifying for the 1952 Italian Grand Prix, but did not make the cut and therefore did not race.

Looking for more

Sebastian is the fifth driver to come to Maranello having already won world titles elsewhere, just as did Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Fernando Alonso and Alain Prost. The first two of these managed to add to their tally of titles during their time with Scuderia Ferrari.

July

Vettel is the 13th Ferrari driver to be born in July, joining other aces such as Alberto Ascari, Fernando Alonso, Patrick Tambay, René Arnoux, Chris Amon and Luigi Musso. As for Fangio, he was the same star sign as Vettel, namely Cancer.

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