Formula 1 2013 driver profile: Sebastian Vettel
The boyish German has another fast Red Bull car and with it can secure four world championships in a row – but they'll be plenty of drivers out to stop him
Team: Red Bull
Nationality: German
Birth date: 03/07/1987
First F1 race: United States Grand Prix, 2007
2012 points: 281
2012 best finish: 1 (x5)
2012 championship position: 1
Name a famous German racing driver. See, the fact that Michael Schumacher isn’t the first name you pick out shows just how successful Sebastian Vettel has become.
He seems to break records every time he races onto the tarmac: youngest driver ever to score a championship point; youngest F1; youngest triple world champion in F1 history… We get it, for a 26 year old he’s done alright.
Yet Vettel’s 2012 triumph wasn’t straightforward. Chased right up until the season finale in Brazil by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, he eventually clinched the drivers’ championship despite spinning on the opening lap.
Naysayers will grumble that his success has more to do with brilliant Red Bull engineering than innate driving skill, but then again Schumacher didn’t manage seven world titles driving a bus. Talking of his retired countryman, that record of seven world titles isn’t far off for Vettel now. There’s one blip on his CV: he’s slower than Hamilton round the Top Gear track.
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2013 predictions: “Last year we saw it was very close, so I don’t expect it to be any different than last year. If anything a bit tighter, so it will be crucial to make the most out of every single race.”
Did you know? The German is a big fan of British sense of humour, professing his love for Monty Python and Little Britain.
