Why I follow Vettel [the update]

Well lets get the spoilers out first, Vettel is now the 2010 Formula 1 champion, in a move that not even I expected. This season has been pretty much up and down but first let me start off where I left off.

In my last post "Why I follow Vettel" I made mention of his record breaking success in his previous seasons. There are some details I had forgot to mention however:

• He is also the youngest WDC runner-up
• He has been in F1 before Hamilton, primarily because he by-passed having to go through GP2 [if F1 is a doctorate think of GP2 as a masters]
• His leading of a lap at Fuji in 07 was made sour by a collision with now teammate Mark Webber
• He overtook Hamilton in Brazil 08 on the last lap nearly allowing Massa to win the WDC [no wonder Hamilton supporters don't like him]
• He is also the youngest winner of the DHL Fast Lap award [most fastest lap in an F1 season] 3 in 2009
• He won the 2010 Nations Cup at the Race of Champions along with Michael Schumacher for the 4th time in a row

Ok, enough showcasing, back to the season.

As I mentioned before in "F1: whose bandwagon to jump on and why" there were 8 drivers who could have realistically taken the WDC..... after a while that list trickled down to 5 then 4 [the first time where the WDC could have went any of 4 ways in the final race] and then 1.

In my last Vettel / F1 update I left off at the end of the Spanish GP where the order in the WDC chase was Button, Alonso, Vettel, Webber and Rosberg. The next race was Monaco. But before that a quick recap

Bahrain: Vettel starts in the top spot, Vettel falls down to 4th due to spark plug issues. Alonso wins.

Australia: same as before except Vettel crashes due to brake problems. Button wins

Malaysia: Vettel fianlly wins

China: Vettel starts on pole, everyone overtakes him, ends up 6th

Spain: more brake problems push Vettel down from 2nd to 4th

Anyways back to the show.

Monaco GP

Pretty much RBR lead from start to finish with Mark Webber taking top honors here and Vettel 2nd. Both jumped to the top of the leaderboard tied for 1st place [statistically Vettel was in 2nd spot due to Webber having more wins] RBR also moved to the top of the constructors tables and gave the entire team a motivational head start going into Turkey.

Turkish GP

After a perfect weekend at Monaco and a Red Bull P1 and P2, all was looking well for RBR until. Vettel made a move that would change how people viewed him forever. While they were both leading comfortably ahead of the McLarens, Vettel decided to overtake Webber. In normal F1 teams either a) Vettel would have been told to calm down or b) Webber would have been told to move aside and let him through. Neither of these happened and the results show the rest. Vettel's collision with Webber sent him out of the race permanently while Webber was forced to finished 3rd behind the two McLaren's and from here on, Vettel was considered a hampering to Webber's success.

Canadian GP

The Red Bull ass whopping continued as the high downforce RBRs could not keep up with the Ferraris or McLarens on the long straights of Canada, it was like all of a sudden, there was a chink in Red Bull's armor.

European GP [at Valencia]

A bit bitter sweet for RedBull. Despite getting a P1 and P2, only one driver finished the race [Vettel finishing first] Webber's race was cut short after a collision with Kovalainen's Lotus. Which I find quite similar to a crash he had 11 years ago .

The win promoted Vettel from 5th to 3rd while Webber was demoted from 3rd to 4th, it still looked like a long way to go before they overtook those McLarens especially since they reached the midpoint of the season.

Midpoint Recap: Brake failures, collisions and undesirable racing set up have made Red Bull and Vettel slip behind McLaren who looked to be 2010 champions, but as I kept on saying, the season isn't over yet.

British GP

After Webber's crash at Valencia, Red Bull was short one car and Vettel really wasn't liking the set up on his. This left Red Bull to make a controversial move and make Webber and Vettel switch cars. On the outside, Webber seemed to not have minded the change especially since he went on to win the race, but inside there was a rift between the team and Webber continued to prove RBR that he indeed was their #1 driver [even though Vettel really was their #1 driver due to last years points finish]

German GP

What started out as a pole for Vettel ended as a 1-2 for Ferrari with Massa leading most of the race [up until this happened]. Getting a podium helped to tie Vettel and Webber again in the points this time for 3rd. Massa was looked down upon and thought to have no hope to reach the top of the WDC board again

Hungarian GP

Yet again there was a Red Bull 1-2 for the start but due to a delay in moving off from the safety car, Vettel was penalized with a Drive thru penalty, as you can expect he wasn't pleased. Webber went on to win the race with Vettel finishing 3rd. This pushed Webber back to the top of the leader board with Hamilton between him and Vettel.

Belgian GP

Another high speed track spelled woe for RBR. Despite getting a pole, Webber was beaten at the start [due to a near stall] and held off by Lewis Hamilton for the entire race. He went on to take over the top spot on the WDC board from him as well. The always wet conditions at Spa troubled Vettel who collided with Button, then Liuzzi. These collisions not only slowed him down but the pitstop to repair the wing after the first collision, a drive thru penalty and a one lap limp on a punctured tire ensured he stayed far away from the points. At this point most people questioned whether Vettel was in fact too young and immature to be in F1, but he continued onwards.

Italian GP

Another high speed track, in fact, the fastest track in F1. No one expected the RBRs to do well here and their absence from anywhere near pole proved everyone right. Most people were wondering would Vettel repeat the miracle he performed here in 2008 or will it be a Red Bull flop out like 2009. The race started out with a bang as Lewis was out in the 3rd corner and the Ferraris took the lead. Nothing much changed during the race except for the fact that Vettel withheld his pitstop until the last lap. Fortunately for him, the quick hands of his mechanics ensured he held on to the third spot, easily elevating him back up the WDC board. At this point, it was official that only 5 were left in the title chase with only 5 races left to go. BTW Vettel makes a good mock up of Ferrari's team order to ensure Webber gets a better position, even though Vettel beat Webber in the end.

Singapore GP

The return to a high downforce layout soothed RBR and gave them confidence especially since they knew they had an upper hand over McLaren, unfortunately they weren't paying attention to Ferrari. Alonso took the pole away from Vettel and held him off for the entire race despite endless laps of tail to wing racing, Vettel held on to second, a move that gave him slight hope for the WDC. BTW Kovalainen provided the fireworks

Japanese GP

Long story short, Vettel dominated from start to finish. The victory secured his relevance in the WDC making it a 4 horse race.

Korean GP

The newest track on the calendar with a roadway as slippery as a greased spoon. Not much cars found a groove on this track, not much cars except for Red Bull who easily grasped P1 and P2 with Vettel up front. The race itself was chaos, slippery track plus rain = safety car. For people like me that stayed awake until 2am just to watch 45 mins of safety car, this race was a disappointment, up until it started. After a couple of laps, cars went left right and centre. Cars pitted for new tires, tried them and then pitted again for moar tires. The track was a mess. This showed when Webber eventually spun off and shunted his car taking him out of the race and the points. Nearer to the end of the race, Vettel was seen as a shoe-in for the winner, up until it all went boom. After making it pass the 46th lap, Vettel's engine went pop and he had to go all Kovalainen on that fire.

Brazilian GP

After the mayhem of Korea, both Red Bulls needed a strong finish to keep their hopes alive, and did they deliver. Despite starting P2 and P3 [due to an unexpected pole from Hulkenberg] The Red Bulls finished 1-2 with the only thing slowing them down being lapped traffic. The 1-2 easily set them on top to win the constructors title. Of course, that was the easy part, the hard part resided in the season finisher at Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi GP

Ahhhh, the final race of the season. Four drivers were up to get the WDC, Hamilton [who needed to win as well as watch every one else crash and burn. Vettel [who needed to win or come second once Alonso scored less than 5th or smtn and some other technical stuff. Fact is, Vettel needed to win and go hard in order to get WDC. However, on a more realistic approach, Webber's points position meant that he had a better chance at WDC, unfortunately for Vettel, this meant that is push come to shove, Vettel may need to move to one side in order for Webber to win WDC. It was bitter sweet, Vettel looked the most likely to win the race yet the least likely to win the WDC.

After qualifying, Vettel was on pole with Alonso in a very comfy 3rd while Webber was in 5th, at this point, Alonso was looking to be the champ. The race started and went on as such up until pitstops, the slower traffic ended up holding both Alonso and Webber behind the 6th place Petrov. This move prevented either from advancing up the tables handing Vettel the WDC as well as the win. 2009 and 2008 Champions finished 2nd and 3rd to him.

On the 14th of November 2010, Sebastian Vettel became the youngset World Driver's Champion at the age of 23 years and 134 days, 166 days younger than previous record holder Lewis Hamilton. He also became the second German to win the WDC after the legend himself Schumacher. Fact is Vettel's hard edged speed, stiff determination and outright ignoring of critics helped to push him to this task and complete his collection of world's youngest titles. The only thing left is for him to get the youngest double champ [or triple or quadruple], but who knows, he still has at least 10 more years in the business.