Vettel joins F1 greats as youngest four-times world champion

Germany's Sebastian Vettel roared into the record books as Formula One's youngest four-times world champion after winning the Indian Grand Prix for the third year in a row on Sunday.

The 26-year-old's Red Bull team also took the constructors' world championship for the fourth successive year.

"You've done it in style," Red Bull principal Christian Horner shouted over the team radio as Vettel took the chequered flag with a massive 29.8-second lead over compatriot Nico Rosberg for Mercedes.

"Brilliant drive. You join the greats, mate. You're up there."

The victory from pole position was Vettel's sixth in a row and completed a hat-trick in India where no other driver has won since the race made its debut on the calendar in 2011.

Vettel becames the fourth quadruple champion and only the third driver to land four titles in a row after Germany's seven-times winner Michael Schumacher and the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.

The German celebrated by adding some tyre smoke to the haze hanging over the Buddh International circuit, slowing the car on the pit straight and then spinning it around with some 'donuts' for the fans.

He got out, standing up on the car before crouching to kiss the front in a gesture of worship. Throwing his gloves into the grandstand, Vettel clambered over the pitwall to embrace Horner and designer Adrian Newey.

"How do I feel? I'm overwhelmed. One of the best days of my life so far," he said in a podium interview alongside Rosberg and third-placed Frenchman Romain Grosjean who had roared through from 17th on the grid for Lotus.

"I am speechless and I was empty when I crossed the line. I spent ages thinking what to say, there is so much you want to say at a time like that.

NO EASY SEASON

"It has not been an easy season. From the outside people will think it was easy but it wasn't. It has been hard for me in particular to be booed when I have not done anything wrong," added Vettel.

The boos that marked some of his earlier wins were absent on Sunday, with the German's title a foregone conclusion and the crowd happy to witness history in the making.

He had led Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the only man who could put his celebrations on hold, by 90 points before the start with three races remaining - worth a maximum 75 - after India.

Vettel now has 322 to Alonso's 207.

Alonso needed to finish in the top two but his hopes evaporated at the start when he tagged the rear of the Red Bull driven by Vettel's team mate, Australian Mark Webber, and had to pit for a new front wing before rejoining the race in 20th place.

The Spaniard finished out of the points in 11th spot while Webber, who led for much of the early part of the race after starting on the longer-lasting medium tyre, retired on lap 40 with an alternator problem.

"I still have a smile on my face, there's nothing more I could do today," said Webber.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa finished fourth with Mexican Sergio Perez fifth for McLaren in his best result of the year.

Sebastian Vettel has retained the world title for the fourth consecutive title winning his sixth consecutive, third in a row in India and 10th of the season.

"You've done it in style," says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. "Brilliant drive, you join the greats."

He will head for the 17th round of the Championship in Abu Dhabi next weekend as the world champion.

Sebastian Vettel has retained the world title for the fourth consecutive title winning his sixth consecutive, third in a row in India and 10th of the season.

Vettel joins Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as the sport's only four-time champions, and is only the third man - after Schumacher and Fangio - to claim four consecutively.

The 26 year-old is the youngest to win four titles in a row.

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) finished second in the race and Romain Grosjean (Lotus) third.

"I would love to say thank you to crowd. They have been fantastic," when asked to express him emotions by David Coulthard interviewing him on the podium.

"It's a phenomenal season. The spirit inside team is so strong. It's a pleasure to jump in the car. Car was phenomenal," he said.

Although Vettel won the title with four races to go, he said it was not an easy season.

"It was a difficult one for me personally to receive boos even though I have not done anything wrong. To answer it on the track was nice," he added.

"To join (Alain) Prost, (Juan) Fangio and Michael (Schumacher) is just unbelievable," said Vettel.

"I'm overwhelmed. One of my best days in my life. It's incredible to race some of the best drivers in the world. It's a strong field," said an emotional Vettel when asked to express his feelings again by Coulthard.

"I don't feel old. I'm going older. But to achieve that in such a short time is incredible," he said with a characteristic grin on his face.

Lap 60: Vettel takes the chequered flag for the third consecutive time in India from Rosberg and Grosejan.

Raikkonen also finishes in style recording the fastest lap of 1:27.679.

Lap 58: Perez moves to fifth passing Hamilton and Raikkonen.

Lap 57: Grosjean passes Raikkonen who moves out of the way and he allows Grosjean and Massa through.

Lap 56: Raikkonen manages to fend off Grosjean to hang on to third place.

Lap 55: Vettel has a fastest lap of 1:28.116 as aims to finish in style.

Lap 52: Rosberg passes Raikkonen on the DRS to move into second.

Lap 51: Raikkonnen is having a battle on his hands with Rosberg to keep second spot.

Lap 50: With 10 laps remaining Vettel has a 26-second gap over Raikkonen .

Lap 49: Alonso moves up to P12 to keep alive his hopes of getting some points.

Lap 47: "Disappointing, but there's not much I can do - there was something wrong with the car, so we had to stop straight away," said Webber speaking to a reporter.

Lap 46: Rosberg has set the fastest lap of 1:28.915.

Lap 44: Alonso sets a fastest lap of 1:29.391 to edge closer to Ricciardo in 13th place.

Lap 42: When told his team-mate has been forced to retire and Vettel replies 'I'm aware' as he enjoys a lead of 25 seconds over Raikkonen.

Lap 41: Webber throws his gloves into the crowd in frustration. Raikkonen moves up to second with Sutil third.

Lap 40: Webber pulls off after complaining of some problems dashin his hopes of Red Bull 1-2 finish. This is his third retirement of the year.

Lap 38: Kimi Raikkonen closing in on Adrian Sutil who is the only driver who has yet to pit and is third as a result.

Lap 37: Alonso goes in for his third pit stop and rejoins in 16th place.

Lap 36: Alonso is stuck in 13th place while Vettel is roaring away leading by over 13 seconds from Webber.

Lap 34: Championship leader Vettel has a 12.5 second lead.

Lap 33: Webber makes his second pit stop and rejoins in third, behind Ricciardo and Vettel is back in the lead.

Lap 32: Vettel takes his second pit stop to change to medium tyres and goes back to second.

Lap 31: Alonso must win this race or come second to have any hope of winning the title. He's 12th.

Lap 30: Pole sitter Vettel leads the Indian Grand Prix at the halfway stage.

Lap 29: Webber has pitted to change to soft tyres handing Vettel the lead.

Lap 26: Vettel is closing the gap on Webber.

Lap 24: Massa is coming under pressure from the Mercedes of Rosberg.

Lap 22: Alonso is up to P13 after passing Gutierrez on the outside at Turn 5.

Lap 21: Vettel breezes Perez on the DRS zone to move upto second.

Lap 20: Alonso gets ahead of Gutierrez on the start-finish straight and to move up to 13th but lost it on DRS.

Lap 19: Vettel is the fastest man on the track consistently setting new fast laps as he moves imperiously towards his fouth world title.

Lap 17: Vettel is 12 seconds behind Webber who has yet to pit.

Lap 16: Vettel is flying setting another fast lap of 1:31.008

Lap 15: Vettel is catching Perez in second place and in turn his own team-mate Mark Webber.

Lap 14: Vettel has set a new fast lap of 1:31.086.

Lap 13: Vettel is now up to third after passing Daniel Ricciardo, who will be his team-mate at Red Bull next season. Alonso is down in 15th.

Lap 13: Vettel is roaring away setting a new fast lap of 1:31.358 to move to fourth passing Grosjean.

Lap 10: Vettel is now up to fifth place after a some pit stops and a pass on Sutil.

Lap 8: Mark Webber has a set new fast lap of 1:31.828 to lead the race as Massa and Hamilton pit.

Lap 7: Button pits and changes to the soft tyre. Webber posts a lap of 1:32.419 passes the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen for fourth place.

Lap 5: Vettel is already up to P16 while Alonso is down in 20th, five seconds behind Vergne.

Lap 4: Massa has set a new fastest lap of 1:32.706.

Lap 2: Vettel has pitted early handing Massa the lead with the Ferrari driving setting the fastest lap going 1.1 seconds clear of Rosberg and Hamilton.

Massa has had a flying start passing both Mercedes down the long straight for second place.

Alonso also appeared to have made contact with Webber and he is down into 10th.

Alonso's title race is almost over having made contact with Button.

Lap 1: Alonso has also made a terrible start but Vettel stays in front.

They are off in the warm-up lap with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel leads the field away for the formation lap.

The drivers are lining up on the track with minutes away from the start of the Indian Grand Prix which is off the F1 calendar next season.

"I'm nervous, excited to go racing," said Vettel speaking to Eddie Jordan. "It could be a special day, but we've got 60 long laps ahead of us. Let's see how the strategy turns out and after that we will know more. I'm looking forward to the race."

It's a hot and humid day in India with track temperatures currently 35 degrees and air temperature 30 degrees.

There is a carnival atmosphere in the pit lane with an Indian dance troupe providing the entertainment outside the Red Bull garage of Sebastian Vettel.

Pirelli has asked teams 'not to use the soft tyre for more than 15 laps and the medium for no more than 35 laps' on safety grounds.

Six drivers in the top 10 are starting on the 'soft' tyre - Vettel, Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in second and third, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa, Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg in fifth, sixth and seventh places.

Four start on the medium - Webber in fourth, Alonso and the McLarens of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez in ninth and 10th.

Even if Vettel doesn't win Sunday's race but finishes fifth or higher to claim the title, he'll go down as one of the most successful drivers in the history of the sport.

He will become the youngest ever four-time world champion - at 26 years and 116 days - and also edge closer to Michael Schumacher's record haul of seven which now doesn't look unbeatable.

Alonso must finish in the top two to have any chance of keeping the title alive to Abu Dhabi next., but even then he'll need Vettel to score 16 points less than him.

If Vettel finishes fifth or higher, he will be world champion for the fourth successive year.

Should Alonso retire from the race, the German will instantly win the title regardless of whether he finishes or not.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel is in pole position to clinch his fourth successive Formula One in round 16 of the Formula 1 World Championship, from the Buddh International Circuit on Sunday.

The German, whose lightning lap of one minute 24.119 seconds maintained his record of being on pole in every Indian race since the first in 2011, will have compatriot Nico Rosberg alongside for Mercedes on the front row for what should be a title-clinching race.

It was the 26-year-old's 43rd career pole and seventh in 16 races so far this season.
 
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, 90 points behind in the standings with four races to go and the only driver who can put Vettel's celebrations on hold, qualified only eighth on a hazy afternoon following early morning smog that delayed final practice.

Lewis Hamilton will line up third for Mercedes, with Vettel's Australian team mate Mark Webber starting in fourth place after he and Vettel had been one-two in every practice session.

However, Webber may have an ace up his sleeve even if Vettel starts in clean air.

The veteran will be the only driver on the front two rows starting on the slower but more durable medium tyres while the other three opted for the soft option and will have to pit earlier.

"Obviously Mark is on a different strategy so we'll see what the race brings tomorrow," said Vettel, who is chasing his sixth successive win as well as an Indian hat-trick at a circuit where he has led every race lap to date.

"In the end I think the strategies shouldn't determine the result that much," added the German, who is set to become the youngest ever quadruple champion as well as the first to win his first four titles consecutively.

Alonso, who must finish in the top two to have any hope of staying mathematically in contention after the weekend, also qualified on the medium tyres and recognised it was a 50-50 gamble.

GRID POSITIONS

1     S Vettel     Red Bull
2     N Rosberg     Mercedes
3     L Hamilton     Mercedes
4     M Webber     Red Bull
5     F Massa     Ferrari
6     K Raikkonen     Lotus
7     N Hulkenberg     Sauber
8     F Alonso     Ferrari
9     S Perez     McLaren
10     J Button     McLaren
11     D Ricciardo     Toro Rosso
12     P Di Resta     Force India
13     A Sutil     Force India
14     J Vergne     Toro Rosso
15     V Bottas     Williams
16     E Gutierrez     Sauber
17     R Grosjean     Lotus
18     P Maldonado     Williams
19     J Bianchi     Marussia
20     G van der Garde Caterham
21     C Pic        Caterham
22     M Chilton     Marussia

TRACK STATS

Venue: Buddh International Circuit

Laps: 60

Circuit length: 5.125km

Race distance: 307.249km

Number of corners: 16 (7 left and 9 right)

Average lap speed: 206kph

Lap record: 1min 27.249secs (Sebastian Vettel, 2011).

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