Sebastian Vettel’s way up the ladder to become one of the most elite drivers of Formula 1
Sebastian Vettel could not have imagined a dream as good as the reality he has scripted for himself as the German driver became the youngest driver to win a championship let alone back-to-back championships.
Vettel like any other driver aspired to be the best driver he can and achieve excellence but his ambitions have changed significantly since he debuted in the sport in 2007.
Vettel came through Red Bull’s young driver program and joined Toro Rosso in 2008 and showed that there is talent and potential to harness. He impressed the Red Bull team and did not make any wrong moves to make his case strong for a race seat with Red Bull
aside from one little incident of which he was relieved from later.
During the 2007 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi Mark Webber was in the running for his first Grand Prix win but felt really sick in the car. Webber radioed his race engineer and told him that he was going to vomit and may have to retire. His engineer confirmed by
saying “understood box box box” but Webber replied, “I am going to stay out mate, I am gonna have to vomit in the helmet.”
The Aussie vomited in his helmet and kept on going, under such circumstances all he was looking for was to win the race. During the race, there was a safety car period and Webber’s car was hit from the behind with Vettel’s Toro Rosso retiring both Webber
and himself.
After the race Webber did not hide his frustration and let Vettel know what he thought of him. Vettel was in tears and was slapped a 10 grid penalty. Although later a fans’ YouTube video displayed that it was not really Vettel’s fault, in fact it was the
way Hamilton weaved his car that caused the crash and the penalty was taken off.
Vettel did not let such an incident ruin his career or his ambitions. Red Bull hired him in 2009 and the young driver straightaway showed that he had something to prove. In the 2010 season Webber was in a strong position to win the drivers’ championship,
but an injury hampered his form in the latter part of the season and was not able to finish as dominantly as he started the season and Vettel took the opportunity claimed the title and became the youngest ever world champion.
Critics again termed it as a one hit wonder and the young driver was again under tremendous pressure to perform in 2011. Vettel showed no signs of inexperience and masterfully showed dominance throughout the season. He ended up with 11 wins and resulted
in back to back wins of the drivers’ championship and helping Red Bull win back-to-back Constructors championship titles as well. While his teammate Webber claimed only a solitary win at the final race of the season at the Brazil Grand Prix which further explains
the sheer brilliance of Vettel’s feat. The season concluded with what was one of the most dominant performances in the history of Formula 1.
Again critics have come out and pointed at the advantage Red Bull had during the 2011 season. Red Bull innovatively designed an off-throttle blown diffuser which had a significant impact on the performance of their car. The 2012 season is not too far and
the onus is on Vettel again to prove his critics wrong one more to prove that he will be remembered as one of the greatest drivers of all time.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect Bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
Tags: