The four-time Formula 1 world champion completed almost two grand prix distances over four stints in Porsche Penske Motorsport's 963 hypercar in testing at Aragon in Spain, logging 118 laps in its major pre-Le Mans, 36-hour endurance test.
Porsche’s director of factory racing, Urs Kuratle, remarked that Vettel “mastered it extremely well”.
“Sebastian certainly doesn't have to prove that he can drive a car," Kuratle told Autosport sister site, Motorsport-Total.com. “He had a certain amount of respect for the unknown car but handled it very well.”
Kuratle knows Vettel from their days together at BMW-Sauber in Formula 1 in 2007: “He is still the same Sebastian, who really gets his teeth into these kinds of things. It was really a refreshing experience to learn about his impressions.
“Even for a four-time Formula 1 world champion, there were so many new things to deal with: a new team and a fairly complex car. He mastered it extremely well.”
Vettel has not taken part in any competitive racing since leaving F1, although he is understood to have been in preliminary talks last year with Porsche customer squad Jota for a World Endurance Championship programme.
Porsche will enter a third factory car at Le Mans to boost its chances, having taken pole position, victory and a double podium finish in the inaugural round of the 2024 WEC season in Qatar.
Source: Autosport