Sebastian Vettel, the seven-time winner of the Race of the Champions, tasted defeat in this year’s ROC at the hands of a driver of equal caliber. Rally legend Sebastien Loeb handed the German F1 driver a defeat to sour his teeth as the F1 season stares back on the horizon.

However, the four-time world champion’s post-race comments suggested his teeth weren’t all that sour after all.

After experiencing a defeat at the hands of a sim racer and then Loeb, the Aston Martin driver said of his namesake, “Sebastien was so fast!”

Vettel described how the conditions got progressively harder, the track becoming more and more slippery. And according to the Aston Martin man, this is perhaps what played into the favor of the Rally champion.

“Seeing the situation, I knew that Seb would deal with it very well. Actually, he made a mistake too, but I did too,” Vettel said.“Still, Sebastien performed well and deserved to win the title!”

He claimed how despite being in the “role of the chaser”, he enjoyed the experience – “I really liked it!”

“Overall everything is great and I hope we come back to Sweden again,” Vettel said.

Sebastien Loeb gives his word after the ROC result

After beating Vettel, Loeb explained how the conditions were very challenging even for a driver with his experience.

“Today’s success means the start of the season went really well for me! I finished 2nd in the Dakar, I won the Monte Carlo Rally and now I won it here,” Loeb said.

“But it wasn’t easy for any of us because we had to compete with Swedish and Norwegian guys who knew these conditions quite well. But I was in a good mood this weekend and frankly I felt I had the right rhythm.”

In 2022, Sebastian Vettel will know that he has perhaps, the last chance in his career to prove his caliber.

The former Red Bull driver’s records clearly suggest he’s a modern-day legend, but it’s his performances in the present that he’ll look to improve to retain that title.

WATCH: Sebastian Vettel Makes Hilarious Admission at ROC- “I’m Not Sure How Much I Remember of the Night…”