The New Formula One World Champion - Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel of the Red Bull team said he had no idea he’d won the World Championship until he crossed the finish line at Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi on Sunday November 14.
At just 23, Vettel is the youngest world champion in the history of the F1. While he consolidated his strong lead early on in the race when Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber slipped down the order, he said his team kept him in the dark about his true standings
until the very end of the contest.
“I did not know anything,” Vettel said. “I wondered. In the last 10 laps, my engineer Rocky [Guillaume Rocquelin] was giving me advice to help me get the car home. I wondered why he was so nervous.”
Not wanting their driver to lose his concentration, Red Bull made the conscious decision to withhold his true standings throughout the race. Vettel described these final moments. "I thought we must be in a good position, then [Rocky] said 'it's looking
good', I didn't know what he meant. I just focused on myself, and they came on the radio and screamed that we have won the world championship.”
Reflecting on a tumultuous season, Vettel, who won five times, also lost out on several good opportunities due to accidents and reliability problems. Despite these ups and downs, the newly crowned champion never lost faith that he could win.
"We have seen incredible fights and a tight season," he said. "It was an incredibly tough season for all of us, physically and especially mentally. I don't know how many times we have had a different leader. Some people got written off very early and then
came back, like Fernando, they came back hard.”
Indeed, Ferrari’s driver, Fernando Alonso, who struggled throughout the first half of the season, mounted an impressive offensive at the Korean Grand Prix, coming back from a 47-point deficit to lead the standings. He was the favoured driver going into
the final contest and most F1 insiders predicted that he would walk away from Abu Dhabi with the Championship.
However, Vettel, who was third in the standings after Alonso and Webber, never gave up hope. He was also spurred on by Red Bull’s risky decision to back both of its drivers as opposed to siding with Webber who was leading his team-mate in points.
Flushed with victory, the underdog champion remained at a loss for words. “I am a bit speechless to be honest, I don't know what you're supposed to say in this moment. It is unbelievable. For some reason it does not feel like it is happening. It's strange,
but it will sink in when I finally go to sleep – but I think we will have daylight before that happens."
With the 2010 Formula One season at an end, Vettel’s hotly contested victory definitively proves that in the world of racing, grit, determination and faith are essential ingredients in the making of a champion.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, United Arab Emirates;
55 laps; 305.355km;
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h39m36.837s
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 10.1s
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 11.0s
4. Rosberg Mercedes + 30.7s
5. Kubica Renault + 39.0s
6. Petrov Renault + 43.5s
7. Alonso Ferrari + 43.7s
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 44.2s
9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 50.2s
10. Massa Ferrari + 50.8s
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1m41.274s
World Championship standings, Final:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 256 1. Red Bull-Renault 498
2. Alonso 252 2. McLaren-Mercedes 454
3. Webber 242 3. Ferrari 396
4. Hamilton 240 4. Mercedes 214
5. Button 214 5. Renault 163
6. Massa 144 6. Williams-Cosworth 69
7. Rosberg 142 7. Force India-Mercedes 68
8. Kubica 136 8. Sauber-Ferrari 44
9. Schumacher 72 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13
10. Barrichello 47
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