Sebastian Vettel made history at the Indian Grand Prix by securing his fourth consecutive world title.
Sebastian Vettel made history at the Indian Grand Prix by securing his fourth consecutive world title. The German certainly seems to be unbeatable and with three races still left of the 2013 season it was mathematically impossible for his nearest rival Fernando Alonso to attain the coveted championship.
To put this triumph into perspective, approaching the Indian Grand Prix Vettel merely had to finish 5th to take the title whilst for Alonso to still be in with a chance he had to win the race, as well as win two more races and finish second in the other, whilst Vettel would need to retire from all four. Sorry Alonso but it was always a long shot.
Unbeaten title
In true Vettel style the German won the title after winning the race, which now gives him an unbeaten record of all pole positions and wins at the Buddh International Circuit. It looks uncertain as to whether Formula 1 will be back in India anytime soon so his record could potentially stand for a long while.
Vettel has now joined an elite club of championship winners with only Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher ahead of him in terms of title wins.
Vettel is now equal to Alain Prost in the championship leaderboard, both winning four titles. If Vettel keeps up the incredible form that he has had this year there seems no reason why he shouldn’t win yet another title; he is only 26 and Fangio managed one of his championship wins at the age of 46. It seems Vettel is likely to keep thriving and will be rivalling next season for his fifth consecutive win.
Going turbo
The 2014 season will be bringing plenty of changes to the structure of the Formula 1 car. New turbo engines are being introduced and they could significantly affect the way a car works. For instance, this year’s dominant Red Bull could become absolutely useless if a turbo engine was put inside it right now. Of course, the teams shall be doing their utmost in regards to testing to make the car as good as it ever was. If say the Red Bull became less dominant could Vettel still be as competitive? Is the German only as good as his car? Either way he will give it a pretty damn good effort.
Controversy
Plenty of controversy has surrounded Vettel this season. From the team order debate to his constant boring wins he has been unable to escape the media gossip. In Malaysia Vettel ignored an order from team principal Christian Horner to remain behind teammate Mark Webber and allow him to win the race. A dangerous overtake from Vettel meant the pair were lucky to both stay in the race but also that team relations were more fraught than ever. If Vettel had complied and allowed Webber the win maybe India would not have seen him crowned champion once again.
Either way it cannot be doubted that Vettel is not a fantastic driver, it is just his seemingly arrogant nature that gets in the way of fans warming to him. Celebrations of his victory ended on a slightly sour note as a doughnut spin on track lead to the team being reprimanded with a fine of £21,000. Somehow, it doesn’t seem like that will bother Vettel too much.
Image by: PresidenBertho
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