Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel arrived at the Shell House on Thursday to unveil a piece of bespoke artwork by local Montreal artist MORT. As the Montreal Mural Festival kicks off in the city’s Downtown, this homegrown creative talent designed a piece of art inspired by the unique, long-standing Innovation Partnership between Shell and Scuderia Ferrari.
After being challenged by the artist to describe in detail each curve, kerb and braking point of the Montreal circuit, MORT then produced a piece of art inspired by Vettel’s in-depth descriptions in an exercise which highlighted each man’s dedication to his art.
In a perfect warm up for the excitement of race weekend, Vettel then took to the simulator to set a blazing timed lap, before sitting down with Motorsport.com’s Julia Piquet for a chat about the unique challenges posed by this iconic circuit.
“Because of the nature of the track, you have a lot of stop and go, a lot of hard breaking zones - but no long-duration corners,” he explained. “So it’s difficult to put a lot of energy in the tyres and warm them up.” Stay tuned this weekend to find out what other insights Vettel and his teammate Charles Leclerc had about the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
Later in the day, Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Räikkönen, went head-to-head with Finnish NHL player Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the Shell House Batak challenge, designed to test reaction speeds and mental agility. Räikkönen, who recently celebrated his 300th race in Formula 1, then joined Jesperi for a panel discussion about power and performance, key aspects of both racing and ice-hockey.
Julia Piquet and Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel, Mattia Binotto
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Julia Piquet and Sebastian Vettel
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo Racing, Mario Isola, Pirelli
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Shell at the F1 Grand Prix of Canada
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Shell at the F1 Grand Prix of Canada
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Mattia Binotto
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Mario Isola, Pirelli
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing
Photo by: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Räikkönen’s teammate Antonio Giovinazzi also dropped in to discuss tyre compounds and performance with Pirelli’s motorsport boss Mario Isola.
All in all, it was another fascinating day packed with insights into the role that Shell’s fuel and lubricants play in Scuderia Ferrari’s Formula 1 campaign. We can’t wait to see what other race fans make of the activities when Shell House opens to Montreal Grand Prix ticket holders today.
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