Will Vettel Rule Again
Reigning F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has been having a tough season so far. The youngest driver ever to win the World Drivers’ Championship, Vettel has won the championship in 2010 and 2011. The German racer was born on 3 July 1987, in West Germany. He belongs to the zodiac sign Cancer.
2006 was a crucial year for Vettel. He joined the BMW Sauber team as a third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix. Vettel’s impressive testing debut was an indication of how the young racer was going to be in the near future. He set the fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race. The following year, he was confirmed as a test driver for BMW. Vettel soon got an opportunity to replace Kubica at the United States Grand Prix as Kubica was injured in a serious crash. Starting at seventh position on the grid, he finished the race at 8th position. This was the time when Vettel had scored his first World Championship point, becoming the youngest ever to do so. He was aged 19 years and 349 days.
2007 with Torro Rosso was a challenging and difficult year for the German racer. He couldn’t manage a podium finish but managed a career best of 4th at the Chinese Grand Prix. Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz saw the makings of a star in Vettel and was quoted saying, “Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential. He is fast, he is intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side.”
In 2009, Vettel began racing for Red Bull and replaced the retired David Coulthard. He continued with Red Bull in 2010. With wins at the Malaysian Grand Prix, the European Grand Prix, Brazilian Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Vettel took home the driver’s championship and became the youngest F1 world champion in history. 2011 again was a great year for him and he continued to defend his title in style. He surpassed his own record of accumulating the highest number of championship points in a season by leading in the 2011 championship with 259 points, even with seven races left! If there’s one man who’s hell bent on smashing records, its Vettel.
This year again, Vettel remained in Red Bull and continued his partnership with Webber. With two races over, Vettel has not had a fabulous start, but there’s still time for Vettel to crawl his way back to the top. Currently, he’s placed sixth in the Drivers’ standings with 18 points aE” 6 points behind Webber (fourth) and 17 points behind Alonso, who’s leading at the moment. His behaviour at the Malaysian Grand Prix was criticised by many and in this rain affected race he finished 11th following a collision with Narain Karthikeyan. Post-race Vettel had criticised Narain’s driving and called him an “idiot” and Karthikeyan hit back, calling Vettel a “cry baby”. Karthikeyan is however, eager to put the spat behind him and move on.
Vettel remains a strong contender but he refuses to make any promises. Astrologically, opportunities are strongly indicated for Vettel and there is a possibility that his performance will improve tremendously as the season progresses. Tough conditions are indicated to come in the way though. He needs to think on his feet and take the right decisions to retain his championship title. Controversies are indicated ahead, but Vettel needs to focus and let his performance do the talking.