Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel

Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	German
Entries	54
Championships	0
Wins	7
Podiums	14
Career points	261
Pole positions	11
Fastest laps	5
First entry	2007 United States Grand Prix
First win	2008 Italian Grand Prix
Last win	2010 European Grand Prix
Last entry	2024 Qatar Grand Prix
2009 position	2nd (84 pts)

Sebastian Vettel (born July 3, 1987 in Heppenheim, West Germany) is a German race car driver, and the 2009 Formula One World Drivers' Championship Runner-up. He drives for Red Bull Racing and is there number 1 driver. He gets everything and webber gets what is left.

As of the end of 2009, Vettel holds numerous Formula One records, mostly for being the youngest driver to achieve a certain feat. By taking part in Friday practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at 19 years and 53 days. He went on to become the sixth youngest driver to start a Grand Prix and the youngest driver to score points in a Grand Prix. On Sunday September 30, 2007, during the Japanese Grand Prix Vettel became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One race. During qualifying for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to secure pole position. He went on to win the race, making him the youngest F1 race winner by nearly a year. Vettel is also the youngest driver to achieve maiden victories for two different teams, and became the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Championship Runner-up in history.

Early and personal life

Vettel was born in West Germany in July 1987. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school; he also mentioned that his childhood heroes were the "The three Michaels", who were Michael Schumacher, Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan. He stated that he wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson but realised that he couldn't as he didn't have the voice. He has one younger brother, Fabian and two older sisters Melanie and Stefanie. Vettel lives in Switzerland, among several other racing drivers.

Career

Junior Series

Vettel demonstrating his Formula Three Euroseries car in 2006

Vettel started racing karts in 1995, winning various titles such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup (2001). In 2003, he upgraded 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 Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He did not win any races, but this was largely due to the championship's domination by Lewis Hamilton. Despite this, he tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on September 27 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 World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks. However, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set 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."

Vettel competed in the World Series by Renault in 2007, and took his first win at the Nürburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to Formula One permanently, and his seat was taken by Michael Ammermüller.

Formula One

Vettel during practice at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Vettel made his Formula One debut at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, driving for BMW Sauber.

2006–2007: BMW Sauber

Vettel became BMW Sauber's 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.

Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race. The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting 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.

He was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007. Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Robert Kubica at the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel substituted for him at the US Grand Prix and started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth position to take his first F1 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.

2007–2008: Toro Rosso

2007

On July 31, 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. He earned approximately $165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso. Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for STR in 2008. His team-mate would be Sébastien Bourdais.

Vettel driving the Toro Rosso STR2 at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Vettel struggled to keep up with Liuzzi's pace at Budapest, Istanbul, Monza and Spa, and never managed to progress amongst the lower-midfield pack (Toyota, Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri). In the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman “It’s kids isn’t it... kids with not enough experience – they do a good job and then they fuck it all up.” He was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car, which Hamilton was also cleared of.

However, Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the Chinese GP having started 17th in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz believes Vettel will 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."

2008

After four races of the 2008 Formula One 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. However, at the fifth round at the Turkish Grand Prix, he finally saw the chequered flag, finishing 17th after qualifying 14th. In the next race at the Monaco Grand Prix, Vettel scored his first points of the 2008 Season with a fifth place finish. Vettel scored again at the Canadian Grand Prix after starting from the pit lane and having to fight off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point. Vettel finished 12th in the French Grand Prix after passing Hamilton at the start. Vettel retired on the first lap of the British Grand Prix after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaning into the gravel trap along with the Red Bull driver. He then bounced back from this by finishing eighth at the German Grand Prix by fending off Fernando Alonso and securing the last championship point after Jarno Trulli went off the track. Vettel then became the first retirement of the Hungarian Grand Prix after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. Vettel impressed many at the European Grand Prix by setting the fastest time in the first practice session and fastest time in the second qualifying session, which was also the fastest overall time in qualifying. He qualified 6th on the grid, and finished 6th, 2 seconds behind Jarno Trulli.

Vettel driving for Toro Rosso at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix.

At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days as he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages, and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy". Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is". The nature of the victory and the story of the 21 year old's fledgling career led the German media to dub him "baby Schumi", although Vettel was quick to downplay the expectation the result has brought, particularly the comparison with the seven-time World Champion: "To compare me with Michael Schumacher is just a bit ridiculous...It will be difficult in normal conditions for us to repeat this achievement". He then went on to finish fifth at the Singapore Grand Prix and sixth at the Japanese Grand Prix.

In the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, after running second for much of the race, 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 the Briton the title.

Red Bull Racing

2009

Vettel at the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, where he took his fourth career win.

At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced the retired David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing.

Vettel began strongly at the Australian Grand Prix, qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third last lap of the race forced both to retire. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He thought that he would be able to attempt this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking; instead he was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions. However in China he went on to take pole position, the first for the Red Bull Racing team. He went on to win the race ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, again a first for his team, which scored its first victory and one-two finish in the same race.

In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel qualified in third with a time of 1:34.015 and ended up 2nd behind Jenson Button in the race. In the Spanish Grand Prix, 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. At the German Grand Prix he qualified fourth and finished second, behind his team teammate Mark Webber, who won his first Grand Prix. 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 earlier in the race.

At the European Grand Prix he qualified fourth but had to retire from the race with an engine failure. It was second engine failure for Vettel during the weekend. He finished third at the Belgian Grand Prix, and struggled for pace at Monza, finishing 8th at a race he previously won. He qualified 2nd at Singapore, but was given a drive-though penalty for speeding in the pit lane and damaged the diffuser on a kerb, struggling to 4th. He subsequently won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position. During the Brazilian Grand Prix at São Paulo, Vettel was knocked out of a completely drenched qualifying after finishing in 16th place.

At the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Vettel qualified 16th behind title rival Jenson Button (14th) and Rubens Barrichello (1st) his team-mate Mark Webber qualified 2nd with Adrian Sutil for Force India qualified 3rd. Vettel needed to score at least 2nd place this race to keep his title hopes alive. He finished 4th with Button finishing 5th giving Button the Championship and moving Vettel up into 2nd place. He officially claimed 2nd place by winning the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, again ahead of teammate Webber with Button completing the podium. By Button not winning the last race, Sebastian Vettel became the only driver to win races in both the first and the second half of the 2009 season. At the race, 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.

2010

Vettel driving for Red Bull Racing at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, where he took the first pole position of the season.

Vettel continues with Red Bull for 2010, and took the first pole position of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel went on to lead most of the race but a spark-plug failure meant that his lap times slowed down, and as a result the two Ferraris and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton passed him. After a brief challenge from Rosberg he brought the car home in fourth.

At the Australian Grand Prix, Vettel was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He took his second consecutive pole position in Australia, ahead of team-mate Webber, also being the only driver to get into the 1:23's. In the race, Vettel 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.

Vettel qualified on pole at China alongside Webber. At the start of the wet race Fernando Alonso in 3rd jump-started and Vettel was passed by Webber, dropping back to 3rd. 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 6th, ahead of his teammate. In Spain, Vettel was outqualified by team-mate Webber and claimed second on the grid. Despite having a major brake problem during the last 8 laps, due to Hamilton's crash in the 2nd-to-last lap, Vettel managed 3rd place.

In Monaco Vettel was again outqualified by Webber. In the race he got past 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. 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, but his team-mate Webber crashed out after running into the back of Heikki Kovalainen and launching his car into a flip.

At Silverstone, after having suffered a damaged new front wing in practice, Webber's new front wing was removed and given to Vettel. Vettel qualified in pole position ahead of his team-mate, but suffered a puncture on the first lap of the race and fell to the tail of the field, but fought back to finish seventh while his team-mate took the victory.

Future

On 21 August 2009 it was announced Red Bull and Vettel have extended his contract until the end of the 2011 season with an option for 2012.

Race of Champions

Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel and Schumacher won the Nation's Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen. Vettel also competed in the 2008 Race of Champions, alongside Michael Schumacher. Once again they won the Nation's Cup Title after a close final against Scandinavia. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel beat Troy Bayliss in Round One, but lost to Sebastien Loeb in the Quarter-Finals. Again Vettel teamed up with Michael Schumacher for the 2009 RoC Nations Cup, which they went on to win in a run-off against the Great Britain team of Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx.

Helmet design

The Bergstraße Coat of Arms that appears on the chin area of Vettel's helmet

Vettel's helmet, like most of Red Bull's drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo. Apart from minor changes and sponsorship differences, it has rarely changed over the years since he has been backed by Red Bull.

New to Vettel's helmet since the start of 2008 has been the incorporation of the Kreis Bergstraße Coat of Arms on the front, just underneath the visor.

During pre-season testing for 2010, Vettel debuted a helmet resembling a Red Bull drink can complete with graphics of a stay-tab opener on top—which would become a recurring element in his helmets for this season.

Comparison to Michael Schumacher

After Vettel's improvement at Red Bull Racing, this also led fans to call him the "New Schumacher", not only for his nationality but also because of his driving style, his concentration and the hands-on role he plays behind the scenes with his team of engineers. The only thing out of place is that Schumi doesn't name his car. Though Vettel downplays the comparison stating “You cannot compare Michael and me just because we are both German,” he says. “There is a lot to learn from guys like Michael, but you can never copy them. You have to find your own style.”

Nevertheless, the similarities are marked. Like Schumacher, Vettel grew up in a small town with an everyday background — Schumacher’s father a bricklayer and Vettel’s a carpenter. Both had their first taste of racing at the Kerpen karting track near Mannheim, not far from the Nürburgring. Vettel began driving in his garden lapping the garden many times, not even stopping to eat or shower, before he could legally take to the roads, and says his passion for cars was nurtured by watching Schumacher while sitting with his father, Norbert Vettel, in front of the television.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2003	Formula BMW ADAC	Eifelland Racing	19	5	5	4	12	216	2nd
2004	Formula BMW ADAC	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg	20	18	14	13	20	387	1st
2005	Formula Three Euroseries	ASL Mücke Motorsport	20	0	0	1	5	57	5th
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	11th
	Spanish Formula Three Championship	Racing Engineering	1	0	0	0	1	8	15th
	Macau Grand Prix	ASM F3	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	3rd
2006	Formula Three Euroseries	ASM Formule 3	20	4	1	5	9	75	2nd
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	23rd
	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Carlin Motorsport	3	1	1	0	2	28	15th
	Masters of Formula 3	ASL Mücke Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
2007	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Carlin Motorsport	7	1	1	1	4	74	5th
	Formula One	BMW Sauber F1 Team	1	0	0	0	0	6	14th
		Scuderia Toro Rosso	7	0	0	0	0
2008	Formula One	Scuderia Toro Rosso	18	1	1	0	1	35	8th
2009	Formula One	Red Bull Racing	17	4	4	3	8	84	2nd
2010	Formula One	Red Bull Racing	11	2	6	1	4	136*	4th*

* – season in progress.

Complete Formula BMW ADAC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2003	Eifelland Racing	HOC1 1 Ret	HOC1 2 2	ADR 1 1	ADR 2 1	NÜR1 1 3	NÜR1 1 2	LAU 1 6	LAU 2 7	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 1	NÜR2 1 10	NÜR2 2 2	NÜR3 1 1	NÜR3 2 2	A1R 1 6	A1R 2 8	ZAN 1 DNS	ZAN 2 3	HOC2 1 3	HOC2 2 1	2nd	216
2004	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg	HOC1 1 1	HOC1 2 1	ADR 1 2	ADR 2 1	NÜR1 1 1	NÜR1 1 3	LAU 1 1	LAU 2 1	NOR 1 1	NOR 2 1	NÜR2 1 1	NÜR2 1 1	OSC 1 1	OSC 2 1	ZAN 1 1	ZAN 2 1	BRN 1 1	BRN 2 1	HOC2 1 1	HOC2 2 1	1st	387

Complete Formula Three Euroseries results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2005	ASL Mücke Motorsport	Dallara F305/011	Mercedes	HOC1 1 15	HOC1 2 5	PAU 1 7	PAU 2 11	SPA 1 DSQ	SPA 2 13	MON 1 18	MON 2 17	OSC 1 5	OSC 2 5	NOR 1 2	NOR 2 4	NÜR 1 11	NÜR 2 2	ZAN 1 2	ZAN 2 2	LAU 1 3	LAU 2 15	HOC2 1 13	HOC2 2 3	5th	57
2006	ASM Formule 3	Dallara F305/059	Mercedes	HOC1 1 5	HOC1 2 1	LAU 1 3	LAU 2 6	OSC 1 5	OSC 2 14	BRH 1 2	BRH 2 7	NOR 1 2	NOR 2 Ret	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 1	ZAN 1 24	ZAN 2 2	CAT 1 1	CAT 2 Ret	LMS 1 9	LMS 2 9	HOC2 1 3	HOC2 2 12	2nd	75

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	DC	Points
2006	Carlin Motorsport	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	MON 1	IST 1	IST 2	MIS 1 1	MIS 2 2	SPA 1 Ret	SPA 2 DNS	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	DON 1	DON 2	LMS 1	LMS 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	15th	28
2007	Carlin Motorsport	MOZ 1 5	MOZ 2 3	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 6	MON 1 2	HUN 1 4	HUN 2 3	SPA 1	SPA 2	DON 1	DON 2	MAG 1	MAG 2	EST 1	EST 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	5th	74

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2006	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.06	BMW P86 2.4 V8	BHR	MAL	AUS	SMR	EUR	ESP	MON	GBR	CAN	USA	FRA	GER	HUN	TUR TD	ITA TD	CHN TD	JPN TD	BRA TD		–	–
2007	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.07	BMW P86/7 2.4 V8	AUS TD	MAL TD	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	USA 8	FRA	GBR	EUR										14th	6
	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR2	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8											HUN 16	TUR 19	ITA 18	BEL Ret	JPN Ret	CHN 4	BRA Ret
2008	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR2B	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	BHR Ret	ESP Ret	TUR 17															8th	35
		Toro Rosso STR3	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8						MON 5	CAN 8	FRA 12	GBR Ret	GER 8	HUN Ret	EUR 6	BEL 5	ITA 1	SIN 5	JPN 6	CHN 9	BRA 4
2009	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB5	Renault RS27 2.4 V8	AUS 13	MAL 15	CHN 1	BHR 2	ESP 4	MON Ret	TUR 3	GBR 1	GER 2	HUN Ret	EUR Ret	BEL 3	ITA 8	SIN 4	JPN 1	BRA 4	ABU 1			2nd	84
2010	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB6	Renault RS27 2.4 V8	BHR 4	AUS Ret	MAL 1	CHN 6	ESP 3	MON 2	TUR Ret	CAN 4	EUR 1	GBR 7	GER 3	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	BRA	ABU	4th*	136*

* – season in progress.

External links

• Template:De icon Sebastian Vettel website
• Vettel's career details