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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/">F1 Fanatic</a> - <strong>Sebastian Vettel</strong></p> </div> <h2 class="pagetitle"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/sebastian-vettel/" rel="bookmark" title=" Sebastian Vettel">Sebastian Vettel</a></h2> <div id="post-4438" class="post-4438 page type-page status-publish hentry"> <div class="entry"> <div class="alignright"><div id="attachment_51814" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 218px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/10/09/2011-japanese-grand-prix-pictures/f1-grand-prix-of-japan-race-24/" rel="attachment wp-att-51814"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747im_/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/redb_vett_suzu_2011-14-208x117.jpg" alt="Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Suzuka, 2011" title="Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Suzuka, 2011" width="208" height="117" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-51814"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Sebastian Vettel celebrated his second F1 championship win at Suzuka in 2011</p></div></p> <p>Born: 3rd July 1987<br/>Birthplace: Heppenheim, Germany<br/>Find all <a title="F1 Fanatics who are fans of Sebastian Vettel" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/members/?s=Sebastian%20Vettel">F1 Fanatics who are fans<br/>of Sebastian Vettel</a></p> <p><strong>Jump to</strong><br/> <a href="#bmw">BMW: 2007</a><br/> <a href="#tororosso">Toro Rosso: 2007-2008</a><br/> <a href="#redbull">Red Bull: 2009-</a><br/> <a href="#careerstats">Career stats</a></div> <p><strong>Sebastian Vettel</strong> made astonishingly rapid and successful progress through the lower ranks of motorsport. In 2010 he became the youngest ever Formula 1 world champion.</p> <p>Vettel spent eight years in karts, winning the German Junior Karting Championship, Monaco Kart Cup and European Junior Karting Championship in 2001. The following year he was sixth in the Senior ICA Kart Championship and then moved into car racing.</p> <p>He finished second in the 2003 Formula BMW Germany championship and was top rookie. The following year, aged 17, he won the title with 18 wins from 20 starts and 387 points from a maximum of 400.</p> <p>The following season he was fifth in the Formula Three Euroseries. The championship was dominated by <a title="Lewis Hamilton" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-h/lewis-hamilton/">Lewis Hamilton</a> and ASM – Vettel’s ASL team didn’t win a single race.</p> <p>Thanks to his BMW connections Vettel made his debut as an F1 tester for the <a title="Williams" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/f1-teams/williams/">Williams</a> team. Still aged only 18, he had to ask his school teacher for time off to do the test.</p> <p>The following year Vettel joined <a title="Paul di Resta" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-d/paul-di-resta/">Paul di Resta</a> at ASM but finished second to his team mate in the championship. A debut appearance in the World Series by Renault proved much more fruitful – Vettel winning both races at Misano.</p> <p>He also appeared at the next round at Spa but badly injured his hand in a 170mph crash. His right index finger was almost severed and had to be stitched back together.<a name="bmw"></a></p> <h3>BMW</h3> <div id="attachment_13351" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 480px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/vett_bmw_indi_2007.jpg"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747im_/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/vett_bmw_indi_2007-470x312.jpg" alt="Vettel made his F1 debut for BMW at Indianapolis in 2007" title="Vettel made his F1 debut for BMW at Indianapolis in 2007" width="470" height="312" class="size-medium wp-image-13351"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Vettel made his F1 debut for BMW at Indianapolis in 2007</p></div> <p>Nonetheless Vettel joined BMW’s F1 team as a test driver and became their Friday driver after <a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-k/robert-kubica/">Robert Kubica</a> was promoted to the race team in Jacques Villeneuve’s place. Vettel was fastest of all in Friday practice at his first weekend in Turkey, where not only did he also become the youngest driver to participate in a Grand Prix weekend (aged 19 years and 53 days), but he also collected a fine for speeding in the pit lane on the way to the track for the first time. </p> <p><strong>2007</strong></p> <p>He began the 2007 season racing in World Series by Renault. But when Kubica was injured during the Canadian Grand Prix <a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/06/14/sebastien-vettel-replaces-robert-kubica-at-indianapolis/">Vettel stood in for him at Indianapolis</a> and finished eighth, becoming the youngest driver to score a championship point.</p> <p>Kubica returned at the following round but Vettel got another chance in F1 later that year.<a name="tororosso"></a></p> <h3>Toro Rosso</h3> <div id="attachment_9502" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 480px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/gepa_full_6614_gepa-1409087424.jpg"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747im_/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/gepa_full_6614_gepa-1409087424-470x319.jpg" alt="Vettel scored his first F1 win at Monza" title="Vettel scored his first F1 win at Monza" width="470" height="319" class="size-medium wp-image-9502"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Vettel scored his first F1 win at Monza</p></div> <p>Toro Rosso dropped <a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-s/scott-speed/">Scott Speed</a> following the European Grand Prix and <a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/07/31/sebastian-vettel-moves-to-toro-rosso/">Vettel took his place for the rest of the season</a>.</p> <p>While running an excellent third in the wet Japanese Grand Prix Vettel collided with the driver in front of him during a safety car period – worst of all <a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/09/30/embarrassment-for-red-bull-as-drivers-collide/">it was fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber</a>, who had a potential victory in his sights. Vettel redeemed himself at the next race in China, again in wet conditions, <a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/10/07/flawless-vettel-storms-to-fourth/">where he finished fourth</a>. </p> <p><strong>2008</strong></p> <p>Even better followed in 2008, when Vettel dominated the wet Italian Grand Prix, taking pole position and leading almost all the way to win. He said afterwards:</p> <blockquote><p>In the race itself I was surprised – you’ve just taken the chequered flag in first the race is over, and you’ve won your first Grand Prix. To start with I didn’t understand and started thinking, “What do you say at a time like this?”</p> <p>In the end my engineer, who’s a very quiet guy, came on the radio and told me that I’d just won the Italian Grand Prix. I turned on the radio and started talking very slowly and collectedly, thanking people.</p> <p>It’s dumb – you work your whole life for a moment like this and when it finally happens, you don’t know where you are. But by the end of the slow-dowm lap it clicked and then I turned the radio back on again and screamed my thanks, this time in Italian.<br/> <em>Sebastian Vettel</em></p></blockquote> <p>It was the culmination of rapid progress by the team throughout the season. Vettel had often struggled to get beyond the first lap early in the year, but the arrival of the new STR3 chassis at Monte-Carlo followed later by an engine upgrade put the team in among the front runners.<a name="redbull"></a></p> <h3>Red Bull</h3> <div id="attachment_26009" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 480px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/vett_redb_suzu_20092.jpg"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747im_/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/vett_redb_suzu_20092-470x313.jpg" alt="Vettel won four times in 2009 including here at Suzuka" title="Vettel won four times in 2009 including here at Suzuka" width="470" height="313" class="size-medium wp-image-26009"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Vettel won four times in 2009 including here at Suzuka</p></div> <p><strong>2009</strong></p> <p>By then Vettel had already been confirmed as <a title="David Coulthard" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-c/david-coulthard/">David Coulthard’s</a> replacement at Red Bull for 2009. But his second full season of F1 didn’t get off to a great start.</p> <p>While running second at Melbourne he overstepped the mark in his attempt to defend his position from Kubica and the pair collided. The steward handed Vettel a grid penalty for the next round at Malaysia, where he also failed to score.</p> <p>This was a setback at the beginning of a year which he ended as runner-up in the drivers’ championship. He won four times, including a dominant wet-weather victory at Shanghai, which echoed his maiden win at Monza.</p> <p>Later in the season the RB5 was often the car to beat and Vettel added wins at Silverstone, Suzuka and Abu Dhabi. But more lost opportunities hampered his championship ambitions: a crash at Monaco, a collision with <a title="Kimi Räikkönen" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-r/kimi-raikkonen/">Kimi Raikkonen</a> at the Hungaroring, and a mistake on the first lap while leading at Istanbul. A blown engine at Valencia (his second that weekend) hindered his chances further.</p> <p><strong>2010</strong></p> <p>Red Bull carried their form into 2010 and Vettel should have won the first two races of the year. But he was hit with car problems while leading in Bahrain and Australia.</p> <p>He did deliver a win in Malaysia but team mate Webber seized the initiative with a series of wins at mid-season. Vettel was frustrated not just by car problems, but also some costly mistakes. He collided with Webber at Istanbul and crashed into <a title="Jenson Button" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-b/jenson-button/">Jenson Button</a> at Spa-Francorchamps.</p> <p>But he was rarely off the front row of the grid and started ten of the 19 races from pole position. Late in the season he hit a rich vein of form, winning in Japan and Brazil and leading until his engine blew in Korea.</p> <p>Even so he was the third-ranked title contender heading into the season finale at Abu Dhabi. But as rivals Webber and Alonso hit trouble Vettel claimed his fifth win of the year to snatch the championship in a dramatic turn-around.</p> <p><strong>2011</strong></p> <p>Shortly before the 2011 season began Vettel <a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/03/14/sebastian-vettel-extends-red-bull-contract-2014/">extended his contract with Red Bull until the end of 2014</a>.</p> <p>The RB7 was the class of the field once again and this time Vettel used it to exert crushing superiority over his rivals. From 19 races he set pole position 15 times – a new record – and won 11 races. He wrapped up the championship with four races to spare.</p> <p>Vettel comprehensively out-classed team mate Webber, who scored a single win in the final race in Brazil as Vettel suffered a rare gearbox failure. This and a first-lap retirement in Abu Dhabi following a puncture were just about the only things that went wrong for Vettel as he became the first driver since <a title="Fernando Alonso" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-a/fernando-alonso/">Fernando Alonso</a> in 2006 to win back-to-back world championship titles.<a name="careerstats"></a></p> <h3>Career stats</h3> <p><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747js_/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/js/charts.js"></script></p> <div class="spreadsheetinfo"> <span class="coloursurl">http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/stats.csv</span></p> <table class="spreadsheetdata"> <tr> <td></td> <td>2007</td> <td>2008</td> <td>2009</td> <td>2010</td> <td>2011</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Championship position</td> <td>14</td> <td>8</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Points</td> <td>6</td> <td>35</td> <td>84</td> <td>256</td> <td>392</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Wins</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>4</td> <td>5</td> <td>11</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Pole positions</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>4</td> <td>10</td> <td>15</td> </tr> </table> </div> <h4>Sebastian Vettel featured articles</h4> <ul> <li><a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/06/14/sebastien-vettel-replaces-robert-kubica-at-indianapolis/">Sebastien Vettel replaces Robert Kubica at Indianapolis</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/09/13/sebastian-vettel-is-f1s-youngest-pole-sitter/">Sebastian Vettel breaks record with Monza pole</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/09/14/sebastian-vettel-becomes-youngest-f1-winner/">Sebastian Vettel becomes youngest driver to win a race</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/11/14/sebastian-vettel-becomes-youngest-ever-f1-champion/">Sebastian Vettel becomes youngest ever F1 champion</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/10/09/vettel-clinches-f1-championship-title-japan/">Vettel clinches second F1 championship in Japan</a></li> </ul> <h4>Sebastian Vettel latest articles</h4> <p><ul class="lcp_catlist"><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/04/14/vettel-doesnt-blame-car-missing-q3/" title="Vettel 'doesn't want to blame the car' after missing top ten">Vettel 'doesn't want to blame the car' after missing top ten</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/02/29/red-bull-2012-f1-season-preview/" title="Red Bull aiming for hat-trick of titles in 2012">Red Bull aiming for hat-trick of titles in 2012</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/02/26/meet-sebastian-vettel-reviewed/" title="" meet sebastian vettel" review">"Meet Sebastian Vettel" review</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/02/06/vettel-expects-rules-close-field/" title="Vettel expects rules changes to close up field">Vettel expects rules changes to close up field</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/12/23/2011-f1-season-review-red-bull/" title="Dominant Red Bull join F1's top teams">Dominant Red Bull join F1's top teams</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/12/16/2011-f1-driver-rankings-no1-sebastian-vettel/" title="2011 F1 driver rankings no.1: Sebastian Vettel">2011 F1 driver rankings no.1: Sebastian Vettel</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/11/28/2011-brazilian-grand-prix-red-bull/" title="Red Bull: Gearbox glitch hands win to Webber">Red Bull: Gearbox glitch hands win to Webber</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/11/27/2011-brazilian-grand-prix-pictures/" title="2011 Brazilian Grand Prix in pictures">2011 Brazilian Grand Prix in pictures</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/11/26/2011-brazilian-grand-prix-qualifyingpictures/" title="2011 Brazilian GP qualifying in pictures">2011 Brazilian GP qualifying in pictures</a> </li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/11/26/vettel-pole-record-historic-special/" title="Vettel: Pole record is " historic and special"">Vettel: Pole record is "historic and special"</a> </li></ul><strong><a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/category/f1-drivers-active/sebastian-vettel/">Read more Sebastian Vettel articles</a></strong></p> <h4>Sebastian Vettel books</h4> <ul> <li><a href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/02/26/meet-sebastian-vettel-reviewed/">Meet Sebastian Vettel – Andrea Cremoesi and Marco Degl’Innocenti (2012)</a></li> </ul> <p><small><em>Image (C) Red Bull/Getty images, BMW ag, Red Bull/GEPA, Red Bull/Getty images</em></small></p> <div class="sharebuttons"> <p>Share this with your friends:</p> <ul> <li class="share-button"> <g:plusone width="200" size="medium" annotation="inline"></g:plusone> </li> <li class="share-button"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747/http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal">Tweet</a> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031747js_/http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> </li> <li class="share-button"> <iframe 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href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/mark-webber/">Mark Webber</a> | <a title="Jenson Button" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/jenson-button/">Jenson Button</a> | <a title="Lewis Hamilton" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/lewis-hamilton/">Lewis Hamilton</a> | <a title="Fernando Alonso" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/fernando-alonso/">Fernando Alonso</a> | <a title="Michael Schumacher" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/michael-schumacher/">Michael Schumacher</a> | <a title="Nico Rosberg" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/nico-rosberg/">Nico Rosberg</a> | <a title="Kimi Raikkonen" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/kimi-raikkonen/">Kimi Raikkonen</a> | <strong><a title="2012 F1 drivers" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012-f1-season/2012-f1-drivers-teams/">All 2012 F1 drivers</a></strong></p> <h4>2012 F1 teams</h4> <p><a title="Red Bull" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/f1-teams/red-bull/">Red Bull</a> | <a title="McLaren" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/f1-teams/mclaren/">McLaren</a> | <a title="Ferrari" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/f1-teams/ferrari/">Ferrari</a> | <a title="Mercedes" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/f1-teams/mercedes/">Mercedes</a> | <a title="Lotus" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/f1-teams/lotus/">Lotus</a> | <strong><a title="2012 F1 teams" href="/web/20120504031747/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012-f1-season/2012-f1-drivers-teams/">All 2012 F1 teams</a></strong></p> <p>© 2012 Keith Collantine</p></div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="footersidebar"> <div id="footer-widgets"> <div class="textwidget"><h4>Follow F1 Fanatic on:</h4> <ul class="footershare"> <li><a id="footertwitter" 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