Sebastian Vettel
In his first year driving for Red Bull in 2009, Vettel finished the season as the youngest-ever World Drivers' championship runner-up. The following year he went on to become the youngest driver ever to win the World Drivers' Championship. In the same year he helped Red Bull win the team's first World Constructors' Championship. He followed up his first championship with a second in 2011, becoming the youngest double world champion. Vettel won the 2012 F1 World Championship, becoming the youngest triple champion in the history of the sport.Vettel then won the 2013 F1 World Championship, becoming the youngest quadruple champion in the history of the sport.
Vettel holds numerous other "youngest" Formula One records, among them: the youngest driver to have taken part in an official practice session of a Grand Prix, to score championship points, to lead a race, to secure pole position, and to win a race.e is also currently 3rd in the overall tally of pole positions behind fellow German Michael Schumacher and 3-time world champion Ayrton Senna.
Early and personal life
Vettel was born in Heppenheim then West Germany. He has one younger brother, Fabian, and two older sisters, Melanie, a horserider, and Stefanie, a physiotherapist for disabled children Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school, but earned his Abitur with a respectable grade, however.] He also mentioned that his childhood heroes were "The three Michaels", who were Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jackson. He stated that he wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson, but realised that he could not as he did not have the voice Vettel is also a fan of The Beatles, collecting several records, including Abbey Road and his favourite song being "Drive My Car". In an interview on Top Gear, Vettel stated that he was a fan of British comedy such as Little Britain and Monty Python's Life of Brian. Vettel lives in Thurgovia, Switzerland amongst other racing drivers and is a fan of German football team Eintracht Frankfurt. Vettel has described himself as competitive, private, and impatient. Vettel also appears in advertisements for Head & Shoulders. In the German version of Cars 2, Vettel was featured as a voice-over.Early career
Junior series
Vettel, during an episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, said he started amateur karting at the young age of 3½. Vettel began racing in karts series in 1995, at the age of eight. Having shown early talent, he was accepted into the Red Bull Junior Team at age 11 in 1998,[8] and kept on winning various titles, such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2001. In 2003, he was promoted to open-wheel cars and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races.In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula 3 Euro Series. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He tested the Williams FW27 Formula One automobile on 27 September as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.
Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader and team mate Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified.[10] At the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, however, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks.[11] Nevertheless, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set the third-fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the Nürburgring next weekend – that's important."[12]
Vettel competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2007, and took his first win at the Nürburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to Formula One permanently. His seat was taken by Michael Ammermüller.[13]
Formula One
BMW Sauber (2006–2007)
2006
See also: 2006 Formula One season
Vettel became BMW Sauber third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.On his testing debut, Vettel set the fastest time in the second Friday Free Practice before the race.[14] In his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, he set the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.
2007
See also: 2007 Formula One season
Vettel was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007.[15] Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Kubica at the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel substituted for him at the United States Grand Prix.[16]
He started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth
position to take his first World Championship point and became the
youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19
years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button – who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.[17]Toro Rosso (2007–2008)
2007
On 31 July 2007, BMW released Vettel to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso team, replacing Scott Speed as one of its drivers from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards.[18] He earned approximately US$165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso.[19] Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for Toro Rosso in 2008,[20] alongside Sébastien Bourdais.[21]
Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz stated his belief Vettel would be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential [...] He is fast, he is intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."[26]
2008
See also: 2008 Formula One season
After four races of the 2008 season, Vettel was the only driver to
have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in
three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in
accidents caused by other drivers, the other being an engine failure.
However, at the fifth round at the Turkish Grand Prix,
he finally saw the chequered flag, albeit finishing in 17th after
qualifying 14th and suffering a puncture on the opening lap. In the next
race at the Monaco Grand Prix, Vettel scored his first points of the season with a fifth place finish, after qualifying 17th. He scored again at the Canadian Grand Prix fighting off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point, having started from pit lane. Vettel finished 12th in France, before retiring on lap one at the wet British Grand Prix after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaned into the gravel trap along with Coulthard. He earned another point at the German Grand Prix, fending off Fernando Alonso and securing eighth after Jarno Trulli ran wide. Vettel retired in Hungary after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. He impressed many at the European Grand Prix
by setting the fastest times in the first practice session and second
qualifying session, before qualifying sixth on the grid. Vettel finished
the race in sixth, two seconds behind Jarno Trulli. Toro Rosso's
technical director Giorgio Ascanelli explained said that something
changed at the European Grand Prix in Valencia: "Suddenly Vettel
understood something about how to drive an F1 car quickly. It made a
huge difference – not only to the speed he could unlock, but also to his
ability to do so consistently."[27]
In the Brazilian Grand Prix, after running as high as second in the race on a 3-stop strategy, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning Hamilton the title, and Vettel fourth place.
After the season had finished Vettel was named Rookie of the Year at the Autosport Awards.[34]
Red Bull (2009–present)
2009
See also: 2009 Formula One season
In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel qualified in third, and finished second behind Jenson Button in the race. In Spain, he qualified in second but finished the race in fourth, behind his team-mate Mark Webber who finished in third. Vettel won the British Grand Prix after claiming pole position in qualifying.[38] At the German Grand Prix he qualified fourth and finished second, behind Webber, who won his first Grand Prix.[39] At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Vettel qualified second after an eventful qualifying, but had to retire from the race on lap 30 after his car sustained damage from contact with Kimi Räikkönen's car on the first lap.[40]
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Vettel qualified 16th in a rain-hit session, behind title rival Jenson Button (14th) and Rubens Barrichello (1st), while his team-mate Webber qualified second with Adrian Sutil in third. Vettel needed to score at least second place in the race to keep his title hopes alive. He finished fourth with Button behind, giving Button the Championship and moving Vettel up into second place. He officially claimed second place by winning the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, again ahead of Webber with Button completing the podium. He also scored his third fastest lap of the year, drawing him level with team-mate Webber. However, as Vettel had more second fastest laps, he won the 2009 DHL Fastest Lap Award.[43]
2010
See also: 2010 Formula One season
At the Australian Grand Prix, Vettel was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.[44] He took his second consecutive pole position in Australia, ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, but spun off when leading the race, due to a loose wheel nut. In Malaysia, he took his first win of the 2010 season with Webber coming in second place, having passed both him and Nico Rosberg at turn one.[45]
Vettel qualified on pole at China alongside Webber. At the start of the wet race Fernando Alonso jump-started[46] and Vettel was passed by Webber, dropping back to third. The increasing rain forced Vettel and Webber to pit at the same time for intermediate tyres that wore out after only a few laps and dropped them back into the midfield. Vettel slowly climbed back up to finish sixth, ahead of Webber. In Spain, Vettel was outqualified by team-mate Webber and claimed second on the grid. Despite having a major brake problem during the last eight laps, Vettel managed third place after Hamilton crashed on the penultimate lap.
In Monaco Vettel was again outqualified by Webber. In the race he passed Kubica at the start and stayed there for the remainder of the Grand Prix and made it a Red Bull 1–2. After the race the two Red Bull drivers were equal on points in the drivers' championship, with Webber championship leader based on total wins. At the Turkish Grand Prix he qualified third and was running second behind Webber when he made a passing move on the Australian. The two collided, putting Vettel out of the race and dropping him to fifth in the drivers' championship, with neither driver accepting responsibility for causing the collision. He finished fourth at the Canadian Grand Prix, maintaining his position in the standings. He started the European Grand Prix in pole position and led from start to finish to score his second win of the season.
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Vettel qualified second but took the lead at the first corner and led for the entire race to victory. With Webber taking second place, and Alonso finishing third, Vettel went into the final race of the season with a 15-point deficit to Alonso, and a 7-point gap to Webber. With the one-two finish in Brazil, Vettel and Webber secured Red Bull Racing's first Formula One World Constructors' Championship. He won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole again, to take the drivers' championship lead for the first time in his career and became the youngest world champion in the sport's history.[48][49][50] Following James Hunt in the 1976 season, this was also only the second time in Formula One history when the World Champion had not been championship leader at any earlier point in the season.
2011
See also: 2011 Formula One season
The Turkish Grand Prix started out poorly for Vettel, where he had very little practice time during the Friday free practice sessions, including a crash in the first session. Even with the limited practice, he claimed his fifth consecutive pole position and converted it into a win, extending his championship lead over Hamilton to 34 points. At the Spanish Grand Prix, his pole position streak ended as his KERS failed him during qualifying. His teammate Webber took pole, but Vettel went on to win the race by 0.6 seconds over Hamilton, with Hamilton chasing him down at the end on prime tyres, and Vettel having to deal with a frequently malfunctioning KERS.[52] The following weekend, in the Monaco Grand Prix, he took pole with the second fastest qualifying time in Monaco's history. Vettel was leading the race with a 5-second gap over second-placed Button. Due to a radio malfunction, the Red Bull pit crew was not prepared for Vettel when he pitted. The net result was that the pitstop was slow, and that he was sent out on the wrong tyres, handing the lead to Button as well. Vettel switched to a one-stop strategy, and stuck with one set of soft tyres for 56 laps. He was caught by Alonso and Button as his tyres deteriorated, but neither were able to pass him. With a few laps remaining, the race was red-flagged after Vitaly Petrov required an ambulance after an accident. The suspended race allowed teams to change tyres and work on the cars, and when the race was restarted under the safety car, Vettel was able to retain the lead during the last few laps.[53]
At the European Grand Prix, the FIA began enforcing a controversial ban on engine mappings. It was believed by many in the press that this was an attempt by the FIA to thwart Vettel's domination of the season.[54] The changes appeared to do little to hinder Vettel, as he took pole with the fastest qualifying lap in the track's history. He dominated the race with his first triple of 2011 with pole, fastest lap, and won his sixth race out of eight races. It was the first time in Formula One history where, in the first eight races, 1) a driver finished first in six or more races and 2) finished second or better in all 8 races.
Vettel's run of fourteen successive front-row starts and eleven successive top two finishes ended at his home race, where he qualified third and finished fourth. McLaren's mechanical grip outclassed Red Bull in the wet in Hungary, and despite leading into the first corner from pole, he was quickly passed by both Hamilton and Button. Vettel eventually finished second in the race, held in mixed conditions. In Belgium, Vettel qualified on pole and won the race, his seventh victory of the season and seventeenth of his career. In victory, Vettel extended his lead in the championship to 92 points and, even with seven races left, his tally of 259 points surpassed his own record (from 2010) for the highest number of championship points accumulated in a season. At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, he took his tenth pole position of the year – joining Ayrton Senna as the only drivers to have taken ten pole positions in two separate seasons – and the 25th of his career,[57] and eventually won the race after passing Alonso, who had overtaken Vettel at the start. Vettel led every lap from pole position in Singapore, despite a safety car period eliminating a 22-second lead that he had held. His ninth win of the season left only Jenson Button in championship contention, who was 124 points behind with five races remaining.
At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Vettel took his fourteenth pole position of 2011 to equal the record of poles in a season set by Nigel Mansell in 1992.[65] Vettel had a good start to maintain the lead by the first corner, but at the second corner, a right rear puncture saw him go sliding off the track. He returned to the pits, but suspension damage forced his first retirement since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix. Vettel then broke the record for the most poles in a season at the next round, the season finale in Brazil.[66] He maintained his lead into the first corner but was slowed by gearbox trouble early in the race. He allowed teammate Webber to pass him as his problem worsened, but eventually finished second ahead of Button to complete a 1–2 sweep for the team upon Webber's only victory of the year. Vettel completed the year with 15 poles, 11 victories, and 17 podiums from 19 races; he also earned a record total of 392 points in the process.
2012
See also: 2012 Formula One season
After the race, Vettel and Red Bull boss Christian Horner criticised Karthikeyan's driving, with Vettel calling Karthikeyan an "idiot",[69] and a "cucumber".[70] Karthikeyan hit back at Vettel, calling him a "cry-baby".[71] Later, Karthikeyan decided to call a truce with Vettel, stating his respect for Vettel's abilities and saying "I think we have to deal with it in a mature way and forget about it."[71] Vettel qualified eleventh for the Chinese Grand Prix; the first time he had qualified outside the top ten since the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix,[72] although he ran as high as 2nd with 7 laps remaining until tyre wear on a 2-stop strategy took its toll and he dropped to 5th by the flag.
At Silverstone, Vettel qualified 4th after a wet session which, at one point, had to be suspended for over 1 hour due to torrential rain. In the dry race he overcame a slow start, where he dropped to 5th, to finish 3rd behind Webber and Alonso. In Germany he started second, but before the third pit-stop, he was attacked by Hamilton, who wanted to unlap himself, lost some time, and was overtaken by Button after the pit-stop. On the penultimate lap he passed Button and finished second behind Alonso. After the race, however, the stewards found that Vettel was off the track when he overtook Button and so they awarded him a 20 second time penalty which dropped him back to fifth. At the following race in Hungary, Vettel finished 4th after starting 3rd. Then, at the Belgian Grand Prix, he fought back from a poor qualifying, where he was knocked out in Q2 to start 10th, and a poor start in which he had to avoid the big accident ahead of him. Having ended the first lap in 12th, he managed to finish 2nd. At Round 13 in Italy, Vettel started 5th and was running 4th until he forced Fernando Alonso onto the grass, for which he received a drive-through penalty, dropping him to 9th. Then, having recovered to 6th with 5 laps to go, the alternator on his car failed for the second time in the weekend. Vettel was classified 22nd, with championship leader Alonso coming 3rd and Hamilton winning.
After the summer break, the next race was the Singapore Grand Prix, where Vettel qualified 3rd. He overtook Pastor Maldonado at the start, before the leader Lewis Hamilton retired with a car failure. Vettel then kept the lead until the 2-hour race limit was reached. It was his first win in 10 races, ending his worst run since his maiden win (which came in his 22nd race). At Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel took his 2nd career Grand Slam (Pole, Fastest Lap and lead every lap) and coupled with Alonso retiring on the first lap, he cut the gap down to just 4 points. On 14 October he won his third race in a row at the Korean Grand Prix. He overtook his team mate Mark Webber, who took the pole, to finish the race ahead of him, making it a Redbull one-two finish. South Korean "Gangnam Style" rapper PSY waved the chequered flag as Vettel crossed the finish line.[73] With this win, Vettel took the lead in the overall championship from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. The Indian Grand Prix brought another victory, with Vettel topping all 3 practice sessions before taking pole position and leading every lap of the race to a comfortable win, ahead of teammate Mark Webber in 3rd – who lost his 2nd place when a KERS failure slowed him down.
2013
See also: 2013 Formula One season
In the Chinese Grand Prix, Vettel qualified 9th, after not setting a time in Q3, before finishing 4th, setting fastest lap and crossing the line two-tenths behind 3rd placed Lewis Hamilton. Vettel won from second on the grid in Bahrain, passing Nico Rosberg in the opening laps. Vettel maintained the championship lead with 4th in Spain, and 2nd at the Monaco Grand Prix. He won in dominant fashion at Montreal, winning from pole position by 15 seconds and lapping everyone up to 5th, extending his lead to 36 points.
His lead was cut at the British Grand Prix as he was denied a likely win due to gearbox failure, but he bounced back to win his home race in Germany for the first time, despite pressure from Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. In Hungary, Vettel had to settle for 3rd behind Hamilton and Räikkönen, but wins in Belgium (from 2nd on the grid), Italy, Singapore and Korea (all 3 from pole) put him 77 points clear with only 5 races to go. With grand slams at Singapore & Korea, he became only the 3rd man after Alberto Ascari and Jim Clark to take successive grand slams. Vettel won the championship in India.
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