~ As he closes in on a fourth title in a row, it is a matter of when, not if, Vettel is held in the same regard as Schumacher & Fangio ~ Sebastian Vettel will now become one of only three drivers in Formula One history to celebrate the remarkable achievement of claiming four world championship titles on the spin. In extending his lead over Fernando Alonso to 77 points after his commanding victory in Korea, it is no longer a case of if, but when, this remarkable young talent will go where only Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher have been before. Even if Alonso did the unthinkable and won each of the remaining five races, and he has tasted victory on just two occasions this year, then Vettel could afford to finish no better than fifth in Japan, India, Abu Dhabi, America and Brazil and still win the world title. Close the book. Done and dusted. This one is over. Vettel’s fourth win on the bounce means the sport hasn’t seen a different victor since Lewis Hamilton took to the top step of the rostrum at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. That’s 10 weeks of utter dominance and 70 days of disillusionment for Alonso, Hamilton Kimi Raikkonen et al. And 1,700 hours of head-scratching at Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren. Indeed Vettel’s winning streak has ensured we are now living in a two-tier Formula One. You may hear people referring to this as an era of Red Bull domination, but do not be fooled. If that really was the case then Mark Webber would be winning, too. Yet the Australian is only fifth in the championship, 142 points adrift of his team-mate, and without a single victory to his name. Vettel, in contrast, has eight. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, the brilliant designer Adrian Newey and the rest of their 600 or so staff at Milton Keynes deserve the plaudits that come with Vettel’s success. It should be pointed out that the outfit, which emerged from the ashes of Jaguar in only 2005, are also on course for a fourth consecutive constructors’ title. Only McLaren with Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and then Gerhard Berger at the helm and Ferrari during Schumacher’s reign of dominance at the turn of this century can lay claim to having achieved such a feat before. We’re so often reminded that Formula One is a team game. Indeed, would Vettel even be setting such significant milestones without the brilliance of Newey masterminding arguably the finest art of his impressive career in the background? Probably not. Yet Vettel is the one delivering on the race track. It is he who is the conductor of this wonderful choir. And it is his victories, his pole positions and his stunning consistency which has propelled Red Bull to such dizzy heights. It’s this form which led Horner to label Vettel among Schumacher and Fangio as an all-time great of Formula One. Vettel’s victory on Sunday nudged his winning percentage to 40 per cent since 2010. Should he win every race between now and the end of the season - and with this in-form German you wouldn’t put that past him - the number would rise to 44. In contrast, during his four of five triumphs from 2000-2003, Schumacher’s ratio was 52 per cent, while Fangio celebrated victory in 61 per cent of the 28 races he entered during his his four consecutive title-winning years. Those statistics alone wouldn’t appear to support Horner’s emphatic claim. Yet there are a number of external factors which go some way to backing his theory. For a start, Schumacher enjoyed incredible reliability at Ferrari suffering mechanical issues on just two occasions in four years. The same however cannot be said for Vettel, who has seen at least six race-winning opportunities snatched from his grasp. Secondly, it must be argued that Formula One has never boasted a stronger field in terms of world-class drivers at the sharp end of the grid than it does now. Vettel, for instance, won last year’s title racing against five different world champions. The most Schumacher ever had to face in one season was two, and other than Mika Hakkinen driving for McLaren, they were never among his immediate rivals. Fangio may have the best pole positions to races-entered conversion rate of the trio with an impressive 64 per cent during his four triumphant years, but it is Vettel and not Schumacher who is next up. The Red Bull driver has started one in every two races from the front of the pack (51 per cent) since 2010, in comparison to the 47 per cent of pole positions Schumacher racked up between 2000 and 2003. Finally, while Fangio was 46 years old when he won his fourth consecutive title in 1957, and Schumacher was 34 when he clinched his fourth title on the spin back in 2003, Vettel is set to wrap up title No 4 only months after celebrating his 26th birthday. Indeed, it could be argued that he hasn’t even entered his peak. Scary. Hamilton reckons Vettel’s dominant streak will turn fans away from the sport due to it depicting the current era of Formula One as something of a snoozefest. But unfortunately for the British driver, his compatriot Jenson Button, Alonso, Raikkonen and the rest, they can only dream of being able to replicate the same dominance that Vettel has displayed over the past four years.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 18:30:32 +0000
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