There is no doubt about it; the boy from Heppenheim in Germany was always going to be a star. Sebastian Vettel won the 2010 Formula One World Championship and deservedly so. If it wasn’t for driver error and reliability woes, he’d have sewn it up by mid October. Trust me; he was that quick in 2010. The driving was fast and the finger wagging gesture was frequent. As I mentioned in my last post, material for my blog is few and far between now that the season is over but for now I thought I would pay tribute, without bias of course, to F1’s youngest World Champion.
Vettel made his first Grand Prix appearance in 2006 at the Turkish Grand Prix. Yes, it was that long ago; back in the days of 'Schuey' version one, Super Aguri and erm Scott Speed. In doing so, Vettel became the youngest driver to the turn the wheel of a Formula One car at the age of 19 years and 53 days. Vettel was fast-tracked into the third driver role following Jacques Villeneuve’s dismal and Robert Kubica’s promotion to a race seat. And to the F1 paddock’s amusement, Vettel was to set another record that weekend at Istanbul Park. The young German became the quickest driver to ever pick up a penalty as he was fined $1000 for speeding in the pit-lane just 9 seconds into his debut. He remained undeterred and was fastest of all in Friday’s second practise session with a time of 1:28.091. A star had been born.
Vettel remained BMW’s Friday driver for the remaining four races of the 2006 season and was quickest in both Friday practise sessions at Monza (sound familiar?). He stayed on as their reserve driver for 2007 until the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Robert Kubica had been involved in an enormous, and potentially fatal, shunt at Montreal one week earlier and the FIA ruled he was not fit to race. BMW needed a replacement and it was Vettel who got the call. Third drivers were rarely used in 2007 and thus had very little experience of driving the car but this did not affect Vettel; he was 4th in First Practice, 11th in Second Practice and an extraordinary 2nd in Third Practice on a track he had never visited before. Vettel rose to the occasion in his first ever qualifying session to line up seventh, a superb effort for a rookie. The following day, thanks largely due to Nico Rosberg’s Williams-Toyota pulling up on the pit straight, Vettel finished eighth to score his first ever F1 point on his debut and was the youngest to do. The German’s stock rose again.
Vettel returned to the reserve driver role for BMW after Kubica’s recovery but was back behind the wheel of a Grand Prix car just four races later. Scott Speed had been fired by Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso and Team Principal Gerhard Berger needed a replacement. Vettel, who has been backed by Red Bull from a young age, was swiftly drafted in for the Hungarian Grand Prix. He only lined up 20th as he found the STR2 difficult to handle and finished an unremarkable 16th. And after a quiet set of results it all came to a head at the Japanese Grand Prix in Fuji. Vettel had been near the back of the field in the dry practise sessions but as the monsoon conditions arrived he was stunning. He qualified in eighth place and come race day he was running third (he even led at one point) before his first critical mistake in his F1 career. I remember exactly where I was as it happened; sitting on my sofa at around 6am stunned at what was unfolding. Hamilton led from the Red Bull of Mark Webber and Vettel’s Toro Rosso after Alonso had spun into the barriers on the most treacherous of race tracks. Suddenly Webber pulled off the circuit, throwing his steering wheel in frustration at what I thought was another reliability failure for the unlucky Australian. But then Vettel slowed too. It unfolded that Vettel had slammed into the back of Webber (sound familiar?) behind the safety car and once he had returned to the pits he wept. He redeemed himself the following race, again in wet conditions, finishing in fourth after qualifying 17th. It was Toro Rosso’s best ever finish and Vettel finished the season 14th in the standings.
2008 was Vettel’s breakthrough year. Although he didn't finish a race until round five in Turkey, this was the year when people really sat up and said ‘this boy is a bit special’. Vettel scored his first points of the campaign with fifth in Monaco, again in wet conditions, and was eighth at the next race in Canada. Vettel finished the season strongly, scoring points in all but two of the last nine races. He was eighth at his home Grand Prix following wheel to wheel battles with Fernando Alonso (in the pit lane) and Jarno Trulli. Although retiring in Hungary, Vettel was back amongst the points in Valencia with a sixth place finish. He followed that up with an impressive fifth at Spa in changeable conditions before that glorious weekend at Monza. In qualifying on a very wet track, Vettel kept his head whilst all others seemed to be losing theirs. After years of struggle, the team which used to be Minardi secured their first pole position. It was an emotional moment and one of F1’s most uplifting of stories. He was the youngest ever pole sitter in Formula One and come the following day, he was the youngest ever race winner. It stands as the most impressive thing I have ever seen in Formula One. He finished 12.5 seconds ahead of Heikki Kovalainen’s Mclaren and thoroughly deserved his first Grand Prix win, as did the Toro Rosso mechanics who had toiled at the back of the grid endlessly in previous years. It was somewhat ironic that Red Bull Racing boss Dietrich Mateschitz had been trying to sell the Toro Rosso team which had now beaten its parent team. Some story. Vettel was fifth in F1’s first ever night race two weeks later in Singapore, sixth in Japan and almost cost Lewis Hamilton the World Championship by finishing fourth at Interlagos. He finished a quite outstanding eighth in the standings as he departed Toro Rosso for their parent team Red Bull the following year.
In retrospect, Vettel should have won the 2009 World Championship as well as the last one. His impetuous streak left him with no points in Australia when he should have claimed six. Additionally, a mixture of mechanical failings and silly mistakes cost him big points in Monaco, Hungary and Singapore. Nevertheless he took Red Bull’s maiden victory in China from pole (despite only one flying lap in Q2 and Q3) and took three more victories at Silverstone, Suzuka and in the season finale in Abu Dhabi. His point’s deficit to Jenson Button was too big a margin to make up despite Red Bull having a much quicker car in the second half of the season. He finished the season in second place just 12 points behind Button and was all set for an assault on the 2010 crown. The 2010 Red Bull was clearly the class of the field yet Vettel was made to work hard for his first world title. He secured ten pole positions during the campaign as he was peerless come Saturday afternoon but (once again), dropped countless points. He crashed into his team-mate Mark Webber in Turkey which threatened to derail his team and had a similar incident with Jenson Button in Spa. The infamous ‘front wing’ fiasco with Webber at Silvertsone cost him a certain podium despite his great fight back while his indecisiveness at the Hungaroring behind the safety car almost certainly cost him victory. He was denied further wins in Bahrain, Australia and Korea due to mechanical problems. However, when all was well in the world of Sebastian Vettel and his RB6 he flew; he won five races in 2010 including three of the last four. Had it not been for Alonso’s faultless drive in Singapore and a blown engine in Korea, he would have won all of the remaining five. Overall, the fastest driver won the championship, which justifies why he deserves to have the number one on his car in 2011.
I know this piece is long, but I wanted it to be so. Vettel has undeservedly come in for a lot of criticism during the 2010 season and I fail to understand why. Yes he has made mistakes, but who didn't in 2010? Furthermore, F1 is far more corporate these days yet Vettel has a likeable personality and he is a perfect candidate to be F1’s latest ambassador. This kid is the real deal; his qualifying performances are spellbindingly good and some of his wins have been devastating. His overtaking skills may be questionable, but on a wet track there may be nobody better. His restarts behind the safety car are brimmed with confidence and he has maintained that ‘cheeky chappy’ persona which earnt him so many plaudits at Toro Rosso. Make no mistake, Vettel deserves his first world title and I would not bet against him winning many more in the years to come.
Josh.
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