GreenBkk Formula 1 | Hall of Fame - Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel

World Championships 1

Grand Prix Entries 62

Grand Prix Wins 10

Pole Positions 15

Nationality German

History

The youngest ever world champion's sensational triumph provided a surprise ending to the most intensely competitive season in the sport's history. Sebastian Vettel's driving prowess accounted for the several age-related records he set. His winning personality accounted for the multitude of fans he made. There was surely more to come. At Vettel's age his hero Michael Schumacher had yet to win his first race. In truth the youngster who came so far so fast was in a hurry from the time he was a toddler.

Just three and a half years after he was born, on 3 July, 1987, Sebastian Vettel began the way of life that would take him to the very pinnacle of motorsport. His method of transport was a miniature kart, the venue was the yard at his home in Heppenheim, a town in south-western Germany. Little Sebastian quickly mastered the machine and began lapping faster and faster, shrieking with glee and refusing to stop until he was exhausted. The source of little Seb's joy soon became a focal point of family life for the Vettels. Norbert, a carpenter by trade and in his spare time an enthusiastic kart racer and occasional hillclimber, and his wife Heike had three other children: older daughters Stefanie and Melanie, and a younger son Fabian. His family's support helped the precocious youngster fulfil a destiny that would make the Vettel name a household word around the world.

He made his kart racing debut at the age of seven and immediately began winning races and championships. One of his early trophies was presented by his idol Michael Schumacher, who befriended the awestruck boy, noting their similar backgrounds and encouraging him to follow his passion and reach for the top. But that would take more money than the Vettels could afford. The solution came in the form of sponsorship from Red Bull, whose talent-spotters decided Sebastian was worthy of inclusion in the energy drink maker's young driver training programme.

Learning and improving all the time, he graduated with flying colours into single seaters. As a 17-year-old schoolboy he won an unprecedented 18 of 20 races to dominate the German Formula BMW championship. At 18 he distinguished himself testing a BMW Williams F1 car. At 19 he became a test driver for the BMW Sauber F1 team, underlining his commitment to the cause by moving to a village near the Swiss-based team's headquarters. His F1 race debut came in the 2007 US Grand Prix at Indianapolis. There, deputizing for the injured Robert Kubica, he qualified seventh and finished eighth, becoming the youngest driver to score a championship point. In mid-summer the teenager became a full-time driver with the Red Bull-sponsored Toro Rosso team, where at first it seemed he had come too far too fast. In the wet Japanese Grand Prix, when they were running second and third behind the safety car, he needlessly collided with Red Bull's Mark Webber, putting them both out of the race. Impetuous yes, but also resilient. A week later, in China, Vettel climbed from 17th on the grid to finish fourth.

A full 2008 season with Toro Rosso included some uneven performances that were far overshadowed by a remarkable first ever F1 victory for both Vettel and the smallest team on the grid. In Italy, on a superfast Monza track made treacherous by rain, the youngest ever polesitter made yet more history when he ran away with the race to become the youngest ever Grand Prix winner.

By now F1 fans were getting to know the boy racer and they liked what they saw. He was cheerful and funny and radiated an infectious enthusiasm. His sunny disposition was a reflection of the pure pleasure he got from his profession. 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles was his favourite song. He loved off-beat British humour, notably Monty Python, Mr Bean and Little Britain. He admitted he was afraid of mice, but nothing about F1 worried him. Behind the happy-go-lucky demeanour was a steely resolve and profound self-belief in his ability to win the championship sooner rather than later.

In 2009 he was promoted to Red Bull Racing where he was teamed with veteran Mark Webber, a decade older and presumably wiser than the newcomer, though not faster as it turned out. Vettel's victory in the third race of season, in China, was Red Bull's first F1 win. He dominated the last half of the season, winning three more races and finishing second to Jenson Button in the championship.

The longest ever season of 2010 was also the most closely contested. Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull had the best cars and their drivers won all 19 races. Though former champions Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, together with Mark Webber, took turns leading the championship, Sebastian Vettel's front-running pace - he started from pole 10 times - kept him in the title hunt. While their team's policy of letting them fight it out on the track led to a strained relationship between Vettel and Webber, their combined results enabled Red Bull Racing to clinch a first Constructors' Championship at the penultimate Grand Prix, in Brazil. Vettel's total domination of that race vaulted him into third place in the standings, behind Alonso and Webber, and just ahead of Hamilton. His championship chances remained remote but the German youngster was well placed to stage an upset in the tension-filled championship showdown that followed.

In the grand finale at Abu Dhabi Vettel earned his fifth victory of the season with another flawless drive from pole position. Behind him, poorly timed pit stops on a track affording few overtaking opportunities prevented any of his rivals scoring enough points to deprive Sebastian Vettel of a championship that in the final analysis he fully deserved.

"Unbelievable! I'm a bit speechless," he said after weeping on the podium when the German national anthem was played. "For some reason it doesn't seem real." Luck was involved but the reality was that the fastest driver in the fastest car was the new world champion and, aged 23 years and 133 days, the 32nd driver to take the title was the youngest in the 61-year history of the sport.

Text - Gerald Donaldson

Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)