Timeline: Sebastian Vettel's journey in Formula One

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel started his career in Formula One as a Test Driver for Sauber in 2006. The next year the Switzerland based team handed him his first ever start at the 2007 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. He scored his first championship point in that very race. Later that season he switched to Red Bull’s junior F1 team – Scuderia Toro Rosso. He picked up his first win in a Toro Rosso(the team’s only F1 win) at the Italian Grand Prix after storming to pole in wet conditions.

The next year, Vettel graduated to the senior team – Red Bull Racing and it proved to be the impetus he needed to start stamping his presence on the tracks of Formula One. He won 4 races that season, all from pole. He finished on the podium in four more races(Two 2nd and 3rd place finishes). He finished that season as the runner-up 11 points behind Brawn’s Jenson Button.

Vettel won his first Championship in 2010 courtesy his wins in Malaysia, Europe, Japan, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. He also finished on the podium on five other occasions to ensure that he kept Fernando Alonso at bay. He won the championship by a meagre 4 points.

2011 proved to be Vettel’s year of dominance as he blasted past all of his rivals to win the Championship for the second time in a row. He started on pole in 15 of the 19 races and won 11 of those races. he finished on the podium in six other races as he took the championship by an astounding 122 points.

2012 proved to be a year of surprises as the first six races provided 6 different winners. Vettel himself won the fourth race in Bahrain. However, he had to wait for another 10 races before he won again at Singapore. He reeled of four wins in a row at Singapore, Japan, Korea and India to take the lead from Alonso. He then pulled off an overtaking masterpiece in Abu Dhabi where he started in the pits and ended up third. He held onto his slender till the last race where he finished 6th to ensure that he won the championship by the slender margin of 3 points.

2013 has seen Vettel return to his best as he has finished on the podium in all but three races this season. In those 13 races he has won 10, finished second in Monaco and has finished third in Australia and Hungary. His latest win at the Indian GP on Sunday ensured that he won his fourth consecutive championship victory with 3 races to go.

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