Not even a trip into the barriers during practice is going to deny Sebastian Vettel from being anointed a double world champion, come Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
That the matter is even being debated is questionable. The truth is that the German has had this season in the bag from the moment he imperiously won the season-opener at Melbourne.
Vettel will join an elite list of drivers, who have managed to accomplish back-to-back successes, a hallmark which defines the good drivers from the great ones.
The names Ascari, Fangio, Brabham, Prost, Senna, and in more recent times, Hakkinen, Schumacher and Alonso represent the exclusive list to achieve this, with only Fangio and Schumacher winning three, or in their instances, four and five consecutive titles respectively.
Love him or hate him, Vettel and his finger have come to polarise the tight-knit community who follow Formula One.
Funny to think that during the sport’s summer break, people were questioning his and the team’s ability to continue their dominance until season’s end.
Despite being victorious in six, and on the podium (i.e. second) for ten of the eleven races to that point.
As if to make a point, Vettel has left the field for dead in the three races since, and taking Suzuka’s unique, Red Bull-friendly characteristics into consideration, he will almost certainly make it four from four, and seal the title on the top step of the podium in two days’ time.
A wise man would back the German to make it a three-peat in 2012, and with a more stable set of technical regulations in relation to this season, there is every chance that the Adrian Newey inspired Red Bull and Vettel will continue to torment the field for some time yet.
Though it is early days yet, you can’t help but feel that there are worrying similarities between the Austro-German empire of Red Bull and Vettel, and the Italian-German dynasty of Ferrari and Schumacher at the turn of the 21st century.
The scariest notion is, that Schumacher was thirty-one before he began his domination of the sport.
Vettel is still only twenty-four.
He could easily continue in Formula One for another fifteen seasons, or twenty if he wanted to take a leaf out of Schumacher’s book.
Ten titles and a century of victories, is something which if anybody can achieve, providing Michael Schumacher doesn’t enjoy an incredible renaissance, is Sebastian Vettel.
What also stands Vettel out from the others, is that he has had to contend with a class field around him, with no less than four world champions in Alonso, Hamilton, Button and Schumacher, equating to eleven titles between them, to give the German a run for his money.
Love Sebastian Vettel and the finger or hate the combination, you have to be pretty special to even be considered in that vein.
Looking for great odds on racing and sport? Get into the action with PlayUp today. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Team Penske is under the same umbrella of ownership as the IndyCar Series itself, so it was imperative for to drop the hammer and protect their integrity—which, thankfully, they did.
Red Bull can’t rest on its laurels and if Perez can’t provide them with cover on the rare days that Verstappen is having trouble, it's time to look elsewhere.
The absolute vitriol against the Canadian that has come from the incident is beyond reprehensible.
The Long Beach Grand Prix is the Monaco of American motorsport, and this past weekend, the IndyCar Series reminded everyone exactly why. We witnessed…
New Zealand made a triumphant return to the Supercars championship calendar since the demise of the much-loved Pukekohe Park Raceway – as Taupō delivered…
It’s time that serious questions are asked of his Lance Stroll and his future in the team.
