F1: Sebastian Vettel takes Fourth Consecutive F1 Championship with Win in India

sebastian vettel

Sebastian Vettel crushed the field yet again at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix in New Delhi today.  He crossed the finish line first with a 30 second lead over the rest of the field.  But what matters most today is that he had to come in fifth or better to clinch his fourth consecutive Formula 1 World Championship title.  Sebastian Vettel is F1 champion again!

Vettel’s 10th win of the year also ensured that the RedBull team takes another Constructor’s World Championship.  The legendary Adrian Newey, chief technical officer and the brain behind the car, joined Vettel on the podium to receive the constructor’s trophy.  These wins bring large amount of money to the team to pave the way to another successful year in 2014.

Today’s win may have looked easy, but it was not without problems.  Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber, was forced to retire from the race on lap 39 out of 60 due to alternator failure.  Then the team told Vettel to stop using KERS power boost feature and stop using the drink bottle on lap 52 in an effort to conserve energy.  Renault supplies the Redbull engines and components, so there was serious concern that a failure on Webber’s car could repeat on Vettel’s.

There was a lot of action in Vettel’s wake.  Fernando Alonso’ Ferrari saw contact with Jenson Button’s McLaren on first lap.  He had to stop and change the front wing and finished 11th in the end.  Kimi Raikkonen had a good race until the last few laps where dropped down from second to seventh place.  Lewis Hamilton had a difficult race and finished sixth.  None of these guys were able get ahead of Vettel and prevent him from taking the championship.

If you like Formula 1, then you will like this TFL video coverage of the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb:

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