'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Sebastian Vettel is a driver that probably receives less respect than he deserves. For a driver that has the third-highest number of wins in F1 — at 53, it's criminal to see how little recognition he sometimes gets from the fans and media alike as an F1 legend.
It could be said that the stint at Ferrari may not have helped his career and his driving has taken a dip since the Red Bull days. The driver was, however, one of the elite talents on the grid and did what not many drivers have been able to do in history — be the youngest to four world championships.
In this piece, we rank the top 3 of his championship triumphs based on the circumstances, the competition he had, and the machinery at his disposal.
Trending
#3 Sebastian Vettel's utter domination of the field in the 2013 F1 season
Points: 397
Poles: 9
Wins: 13
The 2013 season is remembered by many F1 fans as the season where Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull had a dominant car and they just ran away with the championship. The run was so supreme that Vettel went on to consecutively win the last 9 races of the season.
What fans forget, however, is that the 2013 season could easily be divided into two parts. The first part was the one where the Pirelli rubber was too fragile leading to 3-4 stop races and extreme unpredictability. In contrast, the second part of the season had Pirelli bringing in a more suitable rubber that allowed the teams to push the cars further.
What stands out is that, although Red Bull just ran away with the title once the new configuration of tires was brought in, even in the first part of the season, when tires were bursting left, right and center, Vettel was leading the championship.
Even after the 2013 British Grand Prix, when multiple drivers suffered punctures during the race, Vettel was ahead of Fernando Alonso in the championship by 21 points.
The 2013 F1 season was the one where Vettel leveled up and became the best driver on the grid. In a season where drivers had to account for multiple things with everyone struggling with the tires, Vettel was flawless and had already established a healthy lead over the rest of the grid. There's no doubt the second half's dominance had the car playing a key role, but even before that, the German had already proven to be a step ahead of everyone else.
#2 Vettel snatching the title from Alonso and Webber in the last race in the 2010 F1 season
Points: 256
Poles: 10
Wins: 5
There aren't many drivers on the grid that get branded as a 'crash kid' and then come back to win the title in the same season. Sebastian Vettel did just that in 2010. A lot of the narrative gets drowned on what happened in the last race of the season where Fernando Alonso got stuck behind Vitaly Petrov and just could not overtake the Russian.
The 2010 season, however, was not just the Abu Dhabi GP. Throughout the year, Vettel suffered from extreme reliability issues. Two retirements while leading the race in Australia and South Korea cost him 50 points while a reliability issue in Bahrain cost him another win.
Sebastian Vettel had nothing but an outside chance at the title in the final race of the season. The title had seemed out of reach for the German once Fernando Alonso had won the Italian GP.
In what could be regarded as one of the best comebacks in the championship, Vettel won 3 of the last 5 races, apart from a P2 in Singapore. The German emerged victorious in a season where he was termed a 'crash kid' by Martin Whitmarsh following the Belgian GP.
#1 Winning the nail-biter against Fernando Alonso in 2012
The 2012 F1 season is more often than not a season where Fernando Alonso and his heroics in a Ferrari are the main highlights. One definitely cannot disregard what the Spaniard did at Ferrari, almost winning the title.
During that season, however, it is fair to say that Sebastian Vettel's ability to bounce back from recurring setbacks is not talked about enough. There were multiple times in the 2012 season where Vettel could have been forgiven for not going after the title.
After losing out on a certain win at Valencia, he could have given up. After retiring again at Monza, he could have been forgiven as well for doing so. It was at this time that Alonso had built a huge lead of 39 points at this stage, and the championship appeared to be out of Vettel's hands.
The enormity of Vettel's comeback to lead the championship going into the final race of the season simply cannot be ignored. He could have been forgiven had he given up after a first lap entanglement left him with a damaged car and dead last in the race. Yet he did not give up and once again roared back into contention, going on to win his third consecutive title.
Sebastian Vettel's championships and achievements have more often than not been drowned out by the narrative that the German had much better machinery at his disposal. In all of this, we tend to forget how many times the German had to come back from significant championship deficits to win the title.
