Vettel leads F1 challenge at 2017 RoC in Miami

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Sebastian Vettel, Pascal Wehrlein, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa are among the line-up of global motorsports stars set to take part in this weekend's Race of Champions at Miami’s Marlins Park.

In a change to the event's normal format, the action gets underway on Saturday afternoon local time with the individual Race Of Champions, before the drivers pair up in teams for the ROC Nations Cup on Sunday. That will be followed by a special 'Ryder Cup'-style finale in which the host nation takes on the world.

Vettel won the individual title at the most recent event, which was held at the end of 2015 in London at the home of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Vettel to defend ROC crown as event moves to Miami

"I’ve been trying to win the Race Of Champions for many years so I was very happy to finally get to the final in London last year and take the trophy home with me," said the four-time Formula One world champion. "Now it’s great to be back.

"It’s great to hang out with the other drivers, away from what is normally a competitive environment. Of course when you’re on track and the lights are about to go out you want to win, but off the track it’s very easy going.

"The format of the racing is very different too, but good fun. The fact you drive with different cars means you have to adapt quickly. You don’t have much time to think so you just do what you feel is right. Sometimes it works, sometimes not."

Alongside Vettel, Wehrlein, Button and Massa, also taking part will be Juan Pablo Montoya, Alexander Rossi Scott Speed and David Coulthard, along with NASCAR champions Kyle and Kurt Busch, IndyCar stars Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, Gabby Chaves and Helio Castroneves, Nordic contingent Petter Solberg and Tom Kristensen, and Rally X star Travis Pastrana.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.