Vettel clinches fourth World title, thrills the Indian spectators
Greater Noida, 27 Oct 2013: The German giant was in ecstatic mood. He swirled his Red Bull thrice for the much-cheered `donuts’ and smoked the spot as the standing ovation from the crowd in the Grand Stand reached a high crescendo. The smoke slowly gave way and there it was the dreaded `finger’ up for the third time in India as Sebastian Vettel stood triumphant on the car. At he Buddh International Circuit here, he was on a roll again.
He came out of the car and after the antics on the top of the car,
he bowed down and kissed the asphalt… to complete the `Vettel experience’ for the spectators.
“India, India,” he yelled and jumped in joy, punching in the air. The third consecutive title in India helped him become a `modern great’ in F1 history as he clinched a historic fourth consecutive Driver’s World Championship and became the youngest to do so. Only Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher had that record earlier. In all four drivers have won four titles.
The gloves flew over into the lower tier of the Grand Stand and the two lucky spectators fought for them. “Unbelievable Day,” “Yes, yes, we did it” where his words from the radio.
“I crossed the line, I was empty. I took ages thinking about something today,” he admitted. “It’s one of these moments you wish to say so many things but you can’t.
FIA plays spoilsport
For all the fun and frolic provided by the 26-year old maestro, the FIA found him breaking the rules for not going to the parc ferme directly after the win. By coming back to the grid and entertaining the crowd, Vettel was forced to cross the chequered flag twice and the Red Bull team was fined Euro 25,000.
Earlier, FIA fined Alonso and Webber in Singapore as Webber gave a lift to Alonso. Such comraderie an the antics provided by Vettel are the best bet to bring back crowds to the sport. But FIA and FoM, who are experts in squeezing every inch of pie from everyone involved in the sport, wasted no time making some quick buck.
That controversial win at Malaysia was his first this season Then he got nine victories till now, with three more races to go. And he won all the last six races… Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan and now India. This year he also had six fastest laps, three podiums and a total of 15 races where he finished in points. One DNF does not matter now.
Thus, Vettel won all the three races in India and also took pole in all the three years India hosted an F1 race. The FIA world championship round will not be there in India next year due to scheduling reasons and may return in 2015 as per the existing contract between FIA and JP group, that owns the Buddh International Circuit.
Mercedes AMG Petronas Nico Rosberg finished second while Frenchman Romain Grosjean came third after starting from 17th to complete the podium.
“The car was phenomenal today. It was phenomenal all season to be honest. I couldn’t ask for more,” he added. “I want to say a big thank you to the team, to all the people that were behind us. For sure it was not an easy season, even if people from the outside get the idea that we had it in our hands for quite a while, the last couple of races. But I think it was a difficult one, all in all.
“It was a very difficult one for me personally. To receive boos, even though you haven’t done anything wrong, to overcome that and to give the right answer on the track and finally get the acceptance that I think we’re all looking for as racing drivers… it makes me very proud to join people like Prost, Fangio and Michael.”
The German, starting from pole, held his lead at the start but, on fragile soft compound tyres pitted after just two laps. That dropped him to 17th but as others pitted and the back-markers were dismissed, Vettel flew through the field, and within 10 laps he was up to P6 and pressuring Sahara Force India’s Adrian Sutil.
At the front, with the other soft-tyre starters peeling off towards the pits for a change of tyres, Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, who had opted to start on the more durable medium tyre, had taken the lead and was 14.5 seconds ahead of the German.
The battle, then, was between the two Red Bull drivers. Having passed Sutil and Daniel Ricciardo, who were on long opening stints and had not pitted, Vettel found himself lodged behind the similarly long-running Sergio Pérez, and Webber seemed to have the upper hand.
On lap 22, however, Vettel bustled past the Mexican and began to close the gap. Webber, recognising the threat pitted on lap 28, taking a set of soft tyres in the search of a burst of pace to maintain a gap. Vettel responded and made his second and final stop three laps later.
Webber did his best to make ground, but on lap 32 his soft tyres were gone and he made his final stop for mediums. He emerged in P4, 12.5 seconds adrift of the German on the same tyres and that was the victory decided.
Webber was still looking set for second place but just eight laps later he was out of the race, an alternator problem ending his afternoon early.
Behind the front pair, Nico Rosberg, who had started on the front row beside Vettel, put in a solid performance to claim second. The Mercedes driver cycled through a largely untroubled two-stop race and was in third place with nine laps to go behind a rapidly slowing Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn was attempting to make radical one-stop race work. The Lotus driver had started on soft tyres and took on a set of mediums on lap 7. Amazingly, he kept the same set for the next 51 laps, attempting to keep the tyres alive until the finish.
It was a forlorn task, however, and as the last 10 laps came into view, his pace flagged alarmingly. Rosberg swept past on lap 52 to claim second.
“The start was a bit difficult, dropping behind [Felipe] Massa. He was definitely a lot slower,” said Rosberg of his race. “I gave it a go on one lap then on one lap but I couldn’t make it happen and he passed me back on the exit. And then the team did a fantastic strategy. I managed to get by him like that and, yeah, second place, I’m pleased with that. The car was working well today. Important for us to have a normal weekend, so a lot of points and giving Ferrari a run for their money in the Constructors’ [Championship].”
Behind him Raikkonen’s woes weren’t over. Team-mate Romain Grosjean was enjoying a superb afternoon and having started 17th after a miscalculation in qualifying, the Frenchman had made a different one-stop strategy work beautifully to climb to fourth. He eventually passed Raikkonen on lap 56 and claimed his fifth podium finish of the year.
“I would not have bet a penny on me being on the podium today,” said Grosjean afterwards. “But the car came back how it was on Friday. The race pace was really there. We did a very brave strategy – as we did yesterday. I think it was not the time to go safe and it paid off. We’re back on the podium it’s quite amazing from where we started.”
The struggling Raikkonen was later passed by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and then the battling pair of Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez. The McLaren driver won their tussle to take a useful fifth place, ahead of the second Mercedes.
Raikkonen eventually settled for seventh place, having stopped at the end of lap 58 for a new set of softs. Behind him Paul Di Resta finished eighth, ahead of team-mate Adrian Sutil. The final point on offer was claimed by Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Vettel’s victory also meant that Red Bull Racing provisionally sealed a fourth consecutive Formula One Constructors’ Championship with three races in hand.
2013 Indian Grand Prix – Race result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 60 25
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 60 +29.8 secs 18
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 60 +39.8 secs 15
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 60 +41.6 secs 12
5 Sergio Perez McLaren 60 +43.8 secs 10
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 60 +52.4 secs 8
7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 60 +67.9 secs 6
8 Paul di Resta Force India 60 +72.8 secs 4
9 Adrian Sutil Force India 60 +74.7 secs 2
10 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 60 +76.2 secs 1
11 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 60 +78.2 secs
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams 60 +78.9 secs
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 59 +1 Lap
14 Jenson Button McLaren 59 +1 Lap
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 59 +1 Lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Williams 59 +1 Lap
17 Max Chilton Marussia 58 +2 Lap
18 Jules Bianchi Marussia 58 +2 Lap
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 54 +6 Lap
Ret Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 39 +21 Laps
Ret Charles Pic Caterham 35 +25 Laps
Ret Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1 +59 Laps
Meanwhile, Sahara Force India took a decisive step forward to retain their sixth place in the constructor’s standing with a double points finish ahead of Sauber who failed to score any points today.
Force India regains form at home race
Paul Di Resta finished in eighth place ahead of teammate Adrian Sutil in ninth.
After the race a delighted Paul said: “It’s great to score points here in India – the team’s home Grand Prix and a really important race for us. We took an aggressive strategy by pitting at the end of the first lap to change from softs to medium tyres – which was always the plan. After that we effectively split the race in two and I pitted again for my second set of medium tyres on lap 30. The other positive is that we’ve steadily improved the car over the last few weeks and I’m feeling more comfortable, so I think we can be optimistic of performing at a similar level in Abu Dhabi next week.”
Adrian Sutil who had to pit towards the end still got into points. He said: “The target was to score points so eighth and ninth places are a great result for us today. My one-stop strategy was the riskier approach and it was only during the race that we decided to go ahead with it. The medium tyres, which I started on, were performing really well and I realised that doing a one-stop race was possible. We thought that the soft tyres would only last around five laps, so I made sure I really looked after them, and in the end I managed just under twenty laps. After some difficult races recently, we showed everybody what we can achieve with some great teamwork today.”
Team Principal and Managing Director Vijay Mally was visibly happy: “Like everybody in the team I am delighted to see both Sahara Force Indias score points in our home race. That’s the goal we set ourselves ahead of the weekend and the six points scored are very important for strengthening our position in the Constructors’ Championship. The second half of the season has been challenging for us, but we showed today that we never give up and that all the recent hard work has paid off. I want to congratulate the engineers for making the right calls with the strategy, the drivers for their strong performances, and the mechanics for consistently quick pit stops. With just three races remaining this season, there is plenty to play for and we will go to Abu Dhabi determined to keep up this momentum.”
NB: Vettel’s championship title is provisional
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