Friday, January 24, 2014

Feature: Sebastian Vettel - German Wonder.

 If there's one name that's really been talked about this year, it's Sebastian Vettel, the 26-Year-Old Redbull Racing driver from Heppenheim, Germany. Vettel was young when he began Karting. At the age of 11 he found himsellf accepted into 'The Redbull Junior Team'. After racing for other various series & teams, BMW Sauber let him have his first race when Robert Kubica was unable to race in The United States Grand Prix, after an accident during the Canadian Grand Prix.

    Later on he moved on to become a driver for Toro Rosso, in place of Scott Speed, who did not even comlete the full season due to issues he had with the team. Vettel did okay during what was left of the 2007 Season. His best result was 4th. One of his most noted races during that season was the Japanese GP, which was held in Fuji. He crashed into Mark Webber and both of them had to retired from the race. Before that crash, he'd been holding 3rd. His punishment was a 10-Place-Grid-Penalt for the Chinese Grand Prix which took place the following weekend.

    His 2008 Season with Toro Rosso stared out terribly when he retired from the first 4 races on the Calander. He finished 17th in the Turkish Grand Prix and then scored points in Monaco, finishing in 5th. Vettel then retired during the British GP and the Hungarian Grand Prix. Finally, in Italy, Vettel won his first Formula1 Grand Prix and also broke a record for youngest driver to win an F1 race, at 21 Years/74 Days. He continued to get consitant finishes for the rest of the season.

    In 2009, Vettel took David Coulthard's seat at Redbull Racing. The first two races he had to retire. He then won in China. He didn't win again until the British Grand Prix. The same results were done in Japan and Abu Dhabi. It wasn't a bad season for him and Redbull was impressed.

     Redbull kept Vettel in 2010. He got Pole Positon in the first race of the Season, but finished in 4th. He went on to retire in the Australian Grand Prix, then win in Malaysia. He got Podium in both Spain and Monaco, before retiring again in Turkey. He didn't win again until the European Grand Prix. He won 3 more races that year including; Japan. Brazil and Abu Dhabi. In result, he won his first F1 Drivers Championship and became the youngest to ever do so.

    He continued to race for Redbull in the 2011 Season. Winning the first two races felt incredible to him and the team. Even more incredible, after finishing Second in China, he then won Turkey, Spain and Monaco Back-To-Back, finished Second in Canada and then won again in Europe. In the rest of the season, he ended up winning 5 more races including; Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea and India. He once again won The Drivers Championship, making it 2 years in a row.

  Still sticking with Redbull in 2012, Vettel didn't have as good as a year as in 2011. He only won 5 races out of the 20 on the calander. His overall results were consistant though and he only retired from 2 races. Despite the struggles, he got his Third Drivers Championship win in a row. He beat the late Ayrton Senna's record for it as well, as youngest Triple-World-Champion.

 Vettel ended up staying with Redbull last year in 2013 and acheived a huge goal with winning a 4th Drivers Championship in a row. The only race he retired from was the British GP with a tire blow-out and his lowest points finish of the year was only 4th. That's some incredible consistancy and impecible driving from the young German.

 Vettel continues to stay with Redbull for this year and is looking forward to the start of the F1 season. So, now Let's just go over some of his stats.

World Championships: 4
Races Won: 39.
Podiums: 62.
Fastest Laps: 22.
Pole Positions: 45
Total Points Tally: 1,451.

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
No Copyright Infringement Intended
Special Thanks and Credit To: Emily Tydell

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