Biography: The Formula BMW Years
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The story of Seb in 2003 and 2004
In August 2002, Sebastian went to a selection process to take part at the Formula BMW ADAC Racing School, in Valencia, and breezed past 46 other competititors. In 2003, Sebastian was already in Formel BMW, racing for Eifelland Racing and finishing second in the championship, and winning the rookie trophee. That year Sebastian won five races, has five pole positions and had been in podium twelve times.
The next year wouldn't be much different. But definately better: Sebastian set a new record for the series, winning eighteen of the twenty races, setting fourteen pole positions and 13 record laps, being on podium in every single race, with a total of 387 points out of 400. His two only races when he didn’t get to the hightest podium place were won by brazilian driver Atila Abreu, one in Adria and another in Nürburgring. Sebastian had been in podium 23 times in his two years in F.BMW, and his impressive performance caught the attention of BMW, giving him a chance to test their Williams-BMW FW27 in the following year, and a BMW contract. Sebastian had also impressed by his maturity: He was the only driver out to jog four hours before races to get circulation pumping, even if the race was in the morning; no other driver worked on the performance data as long as he did; and he was the most mature driver dealing with journalists, VIPs, and sponsors. For all the reasons above, Sebastian was voted 2004 ADAC Motorsport Junior and got a ADAC Christophours made of Nymphenburger porcelain.