F1 News
Date: 25/November/2013
Sebastian Vettel drove to a record ninth victory in
succession and 13th of the season in Sunday’s Brazilian F1 finale.
Pole sitter Vettel briefly lost out to Nico Rosberg at the
start but held a ten second lead for much of the race.
The German needed that advantage when fears of a safety car
following an incident between Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
saw a last minute pit stop call by the Red Bull team.
Rain was also a constant threat, but never materialised into
anything substantial and Vettel crossed the line 10.8s head of team-mate Mark
Webber, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in third.
“We didn’t have any dry running before the race so it was quite
exciting when we started: bit of an adventure to find braking points etc,” said
four time World Champion Vettel.
“My start was obviously quite bad. I had lots of wheel-slip,
lost the position to Nico [Rosberg, Mercedes] but saved some KERS for the end
of the lap which worked well.
“I managed to get back in the lead and was basically
benefitting from Nico being a little bit slower than the cars behind - Fernando
and Mark - so I could open a gap and control that for more or less the rest of
the race.
“That was until we came in for the second stop, which was a
last minute call. I think we were afraid of a safety car. I came in, hoping
everybody was ready. I think I had three wheels on the car but I was waiting
for the front right tyre to arrive.
“I saw that obviously Mark was queuing behind me and there
was a bit of chaos but it was fine in the end and I still had a bit of a gap.
“That gap was really helpful to get through traffic and with
the rain coming and going - you could really see it from the car. You didn’t
know how strong the rain was.
“In the end it was fine to stay on dry tyres but a little
more rain and it could have been a different story, so lucky to get away with
that.”
Vettel has now tied countryman Michael Schumacher’s record
for most wins in a single season, but stands alone in scoring nine in a year.
Alberto Ascari is credited with nine successive wins spread
over two seasons in the 1950s, although there is some debate about whether the
Indianapolis 500 should counted, in which case it was only seven in a row.
Regardless, Vettel feels Ascari’s achievement in an era of
longer races and poor reliability will always be special.
“I think in terms of a record with Alberto Ascari you can’t
really compare it, it’s at a completely different time,” said Vettel. “If you
consider the fact that in the ‘50s the races were much longer and there were a
lot of cars were breaking down. So I think his record still stands out a lot.
“At the end of the day it’s just a number, but hopefully one
day, when I’ve got less hair and chubby, then it’ll be something nice to look
back to.”
Brazil was also the last race of the V8 engine era - V6
turbo engines with enhanced energy recovery systems will debut in 2014 - and
the last in Formula One for Webber.
Webber, 37, made some impressive overtakes and set the
fastest lap of the race on his way to an eighth podium of the year and 42nd
of his career.
The result also allowed the Australian to snatch third in
the final World Championship standings from Hamilton, who was handed a drive-through
penalty for the Bottas incident.
“It was a very good finish to my career, a good fight with
all the guys I’ve enjoyed fighting with for most of my career: Seb, Fernando,
Lewis, Nico, all the guys who have been in the window for the last five or six
years.
“I’m very proud to have raced with these guys at the end. I
mean I raced pretty much all four or five of them at some stage in the race
today - apart from Seb, obviously who was a little bit down the road - but it
was a good battle for all of us.
“It’s a real pleasure for me to finish on the podium with
arguable the two best guys of the current generation. I hold them in very high
esteem.
“I’m happy with the finish and I’m also happy to go and do
something different now. It was a special day for me, all the people that
helped me get here. Australia. And the team, of course. Renault as well - a
one-two for them, last time with the V8s.
“Lots of things which are special, so thank you very much.”
Webber, who made his F1 debut in 2002, removed his helmet
for the slowdown lap as he waved to marshals and fans.
“In this sport it’s not always easy to show the person
that’s behind the wheel so it was nice to drive back with the helmet off,” said
Webber, a winner of nine F1 races who is switching to sports car competition
with Porsche. “It was a nice moment, a little bit of a different touch to bring
the car back for the final time.”
Alonso had already been confirmed as title runner-up in the
Drivers’ Championship but Ferrari missed out on second place in the
Constructors’ Championship, behind Red Bull, by just six points to Mercedes.
The points lost by Mercedes through Hamilton’s penalty were
effectively negated by an identical sanction for Felipe Massa, who was judged
to have crossed the pit lane demarcation line with all four wheels.
That decision left the furious home star to finish seventh
in his final race for Ferrari.
