Steve Slater on F1’s Sebastian Vettel: Still chasing Schumacher’s success

Last weekend, in the heat and the dust of the Buddh International Circuit, Sebastian Vettel did much more than become Formula One world champion for the fourth year in succession. He did it in style, coolly dominating the race from pole position to the checkered flag. It was a race driven by a true champion, not to mention Vettel’s ninth win from the 16 races so far this season and his sixth victory in succession.

Such has been Vettel’s winning streak that he has been unbeaten since the Belgian Grand Prix in August. In Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan and India, he left his rivals trailing and there is no sign yet that he is set to lift the throttle.

Vettel now matches four-times champion Alain Prost for the number of titles. Only seven-times champion Michael Schumacher and five-times title holder Juan-Manuel Fangio have won more crowns.

Only time will tell whether 26 year-old Vettel can match Schumacher’s record 91 race victories. But one thing that many forget is that until Michael Schumacher won his first title in 1994, Germany had not ever had a Formula One world champion. Schumacher’s pioneering success undoubtedly gave Vettel a road to follow.

Vettel is also well aware that after his victory in India, he is just two victories shy of equaling Schumacher’s record of 13 race wins in a single season. Even beyond the natural competitive spirit that drives sportsmen like Sebastian, I have a real feeling that he is inspired by Schumacher’s score. When given a target like that, it would be unnatural not to aim for it.

Some might find Vettel’s domination boring. However, Sebastian has a lighter side than Schumacher. Could you have imagined Michael celebrating his champions’ title with crowd-pleasing, tire-smoking ‘donuts’ on the starting grid? Not least because the showboating earned Vettel a reprimand and a 25,000 Euro fine in the process.

However, there is no guarantee that Red Bull’s domination will continue. The great thing about Formula One is that things continually change. As we head this weekend to Abu Dhabi, there are already signs that Grosjean and Raikkonen’s Lotuses can match Vettel’s race pace.

It would be foolish, too, to discount top-class drivers like Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, even if Ferrari and Mercedes have not so far adapted quite as well to the latest-specification Pirelli tires as the flying Red Bulls.

In the longer term, Red Bull may not continue their success into the 2014 season either. All the teams will have to adapt to new technological challenges posed by a switch to 1.6-liter turbocharged ‘eco’ engines, but Red Bull designer Adrian Newey is faced with meeting those challenges without two of his key acolytes.

Red Bull chief aerodynamicist Peter Prodromou and his right-hand man Dan Fallows have both been recruited for 2014 by McLaren. There are even rumors that Newey himself will move on from his role at Red Bull, to work with Olympian sailor Sir Ben Ainslie to design a new ‘super yacht’ to win the
Americas Cup.

If that were to occur, Vettel might suddenly find himself chasing Schumacher’s records in a less competitive car. It could mean that the 2014 championship could be one of the best yet, and if Vettel he were to succeed in that environment, then he would mark himself as the greatest champion ever.