2013 F1 Indian GP: Victorious Vettel wins fourth World Championship title

Sebastian Vettel acknowledges the crowd after winning the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel cruised to victory at the Buddh International Circuit to claim win his fourth consecutive world championship title. In doing so, he also became the fourth driver to become a 4-time champion.

In spite of pitting in in the second lap of the race to remove the soft compound tyres, Vettel quickly made his way through the field setting many fastest laps despite warnings from the team.

Nico Rosberg came in second in the Mercedes while Romain Grosjean came third after starting 17th on the grid. Grosjean and Lotus had a one pit stop strategy which paid off for the French driver.

Mark Webber‘s bad luck continued as he had to retire from the race when he was in second place due to a problem with the alternator. The team did not want to take a chance of the car catching fire.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa came in fourth while McLaren’s Sergio Perez came in fifth. Both had overtaken a struggling Kimi Raikkonen who was on the medium compound tyres for more than 40 laps. Raikkonen eventually pit in the penultimate lap of the race and even went on to set the fastest lap of the race in the final lap, finishing in seventh place.

Force India’s Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil managed to finish in the points as they finished eighth and ninth while Daniel Ricciardo finished tenth in the Toro Roso.

Fernando Alonso had a disastrous start when he lost part of his front wing after a collision in the first lap. He never managed to get back in the race and he needed to finish in the top two to ensure Vettel would not clinch the title in India.

Red Bull also secured their fourth Constructor’s Championship title with Vettel’s victory.

The next race of the season in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next week.