Sebastian Vettel – Three times a Champion

Sebastian Vettel has made history in Brazil, becoming the youngest ever triple World Champion and only the third driver in history to win three consecutive titles – after Juan Manual Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

When he made contact with Bruno Senna on the first lap and found himself facing the wrong way with damage to his left side pod, Vettel could have been forgiven for thinking his championship was gone. But instead he produced a true champion’s drive from the back of the field to finish sixth, negotiating weather changes, several overtaking moves and communication problems with his team after a partial radio failure.

Fernando Alonso was Vettel’s only remaining title challenger, and the Spaniard made the most of his car and on-track opportunities to finish a superb second in the race. Unfortunately for Alonso, it was not enough to take the title, and he finished three points behind Vettel.

Nonetheless, Alonso’s class has been displayed throughout the entire season. From beginning to end, he has been the benchmark for the rest of the field. The 2012 Ferrari has just not been quick enough, particularly in qualifying, but Alonso has delivered results seemingly beyond the car’s capabilities and came tantalisingly close to snatching the title away from Vettel.

The 2012 championship has revealed two very different cultures in two very different teams. At Ferrari, there is very much a family atmosphere, with the drivers obviously working together for the best possible team result. Massa has been vocal in his support of Alonso’s championship bid for some time, and the Brazilian played a crucial role in helping Alonso to finish second in today’s race. By contrast, at Red Bull Mark Webber has never shown public support for Sebastian Vettel’s title hopes, even after Webber himself fell out of the title race. In today’s race, Webber did let Vettel through fairly easily on the track, but was otherwise not involved at all in his team-mate’s success.

Vettel’s success elevates him into a very special group of drivers – the triple World Champions. He joins Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, an illustrious group if ever there was one. Ahead in the record books are Alain Prost on four titles, Juan Manuel Fangio on five, and Michael Schumacher with seven World Drivers’ Championships. At only 25 years old, Vettel is the youngest of the triple World Champions by six years, and has plenty of time left in his career to add to his astonishing list of achievements.

2012 has been possibly the most thrilling season in Formula One history. The first seven races saw seven different winners in five different cars powered by three different engines. When the order settled down, Alonso emerged as the dominant driver, but ultimately he had no response to the technical developments that took place at Red Bull, and Sebastian Vettel’s mesmerising speed delivered four race wins in a row to take the lead in the championship. The title has gone down to the last race, and even to the last few laps, providing plenty of excitement for millions of Formula One fans worldwide. At the end of the year, Vettel is a deserving Drivers’ Champion, and Red Bull are worthy Constructors’s Champions.