After a battle which came down to the final laps of the final race of the season, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won his third consecutive World Driving Championship (WDC), to become one of only three drivers to win three in a row in Formula One history and the youngest to do so by six years.
This comes after Vettel and his teammate Mark Webber won Red Bull its third consecutive Constructors’ Championship, beating F1 icons Ferrari and McLaren, in Red Bull’s eighth season in the sport.
Vettel is unquestionably one of the best drivers on the grid, and he had one of the best cars all three seasons, but the 25-year-old German driver had to work hard in 2012.
After a win in the fourth race, Vettel and Red Bull were eclipsed by McLaren through the middle of the season. Then with seven races left, Red Bull designer Adrian Newey found whatever the car had lacked, and Vettel won four in a row to take the points lead.
“The most important thing throughout the season is that we kept pushing and remained ourselves,” Vettel said on the team’s website.
“We just try to do our thing and stick to the route that we know and that’s what made the difference. Some people try to play games, but we never get distracted, we keep going our way.
“Everyone at Milton Keynes [Red Bull’s home] and here at the circuit, they are always pushing so hard and we really stepped up our game in the second half of the season.”
McLaren, led by Lewis Hamilton, resurged in the final races, but it was too late for the British team; only Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, himself chasing a third WDC, had a chance to beat the amazing German.
Alonso arguably outdrove Vettel in 2012, because he had so much less car to work with. The Ferrari F2012 started out well off the pace and never really caught up; only inspired performances by Alonso—and late in the season, by teammate Felipe Massa as well—kept the Spanish two-time champ in the hunt, and kept Ferrari in the fight for Constructors’ points.
For the third time, Alonso’s quest for a third WDC came down to the final race of the season, and for the third time, he finished second.
For the third year running, Vettel came out on top.
Vettel Disproves Detractors
This year, 2012, should be the year that silences the young German’s detractors. In the past, it was argued that the Red Bull was such a superior car and anyone would win in it (despite Vettel’s teammate Webber not doing as well.)
It was also said that Vettel was indeed a master of staying ahead, and saving his tires when he had the lead, but the young star couldn’t overtake.
Vettel obliterated that criticism by coming from last place on the grid twice at Abu Dhabi. Vettel finished third but he had to pass almost every car in the field twice to do it.
Vettel showed his ability yet again in the next race, the U.S. Grand Prix. Though the Red Bull RB8 was some 10 mph slower than almost every other car on the gird, Vettel took the pole, led the first half of the race by making his tires last longer, and led much of the second half.
Ultimately he couldn’t hold off a determined Hamilton in his faster McLaren, but Vettel never let his opponent get away, finishing just half a second behind.
Much of Vettel’s success can be attributed to raw skill, but maturity also played a part. Through his three years with Red Bull, Vettel has learned to control his impulsiveness—no more wrecks like the one in Turkey in 2010 where he totaled himself and his teammate—and has learned to accept what his car can do; he accepted a sixth-place finish at Brazil, because it was all he could safely do and was enough for him to win his third title.
Reliability and a Little Luck
Red Bull’s reliability was a huge boon to the newest three-time champion. Vettel only failed to finish one race all season. Luck also played its part, one of the most glaring examples being Vettel’s spin at the start at Brazil.
After Vettel collided with Bruno Senna entering the first turn and spun to face the oncoming cars, somehow the entire field drove around the Red Bull.
Equally lucky, the damage didn’t sideline the car; Vettel came within inches of losing the title a dozen times just in the first few seconds of the race, but after the first impact, his car was untouched.
Vettel had the luck he needed, and he had the car he needed. He had the excellent Red Bull crew, which always came through whether with fast pit stops or with overnight rebuilds to get a damaged car ready to race.
“There’s no one in this team that feels more important than anyone else, we all push together, alongside each other; it’s one big force and I’m very proud of that,” Vettel said.
Ultimately those were important parts of the equation, but not as important as Vettel’s driving ability.
He might not be equal to Hamilton when it comes to overtaking; he might not be as good as Alonso at muscling an ill-handling car into a podium finish.
Vettel is good enough at those feats that when he does have the slightest edge, he can drive away from everybody else.
Thirty-six times in his career he has earned that edge by qualifying on the pole, and 26 times has ended up ahead at the finish. That’s not luck. This man is simply an excellent driver.
Few people expected Juan Manuel Fangio’s five WDCs to be surpassed. Then Michael Schumacher found a home at Ferrari and won five in a row, to add to two with Benetton. But Schumacher was 31 when he started that run.
Vettel could win seven championships by 31—unlikely, but possible. If he stays in F1 until the age of 43, like Schumacher…
At 25, after five-and-a-half seasons in Formula One, Vettel has entered the pantheon of racing legends—he is already one of the best drivers in history.
Current F1 fans have the joy and the privilege of watching the start of a career which will be discussed for decades.
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