Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Indian GP

It’s just too easy for him isn’t it. So it would seem from afar at any rate.

Sebastian Vettel has cruised to victory at the Indian Grand Prix and in doing so secured his fourth consecutive world championship. He’s just 26 years old and while he has his fair share of detractors noone can take away what he has achieved. It’s quite remarkable.

From pole position, Vettel established an early lead; 2.4 seconds by the end of Lap 1. It was clearly a case of how far for the Red Bull ace. He took a small risk by pitting early to rid himself of his soft compound tyres but then showed his class by carving his way through the field to re-establish a race winning position.

Despite a messy start, suffering light contact with both Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber spent quite a bit of time leading the race. His different tyre strategy giving him an early edge over the other drivers around him. The plan was to establish a strong enough gap over Vettel to keep the lead. On this day, again, Vettel was unstoppable and his victory proved to be a formality. However, Mark was driving well and was on track for a comfortable second place.

Unfortunately for Mark he was instructed by his team to retire on account of an alternator problem. Vettel received a few warnings, as well, but he still posted quick laps and managed to win the race by almost 30 seconds over Nico Rosberg.

Even with Vettel’s huge achievement the drive of the day goes to Romain Grosjean who fought his way to P3 after the disappointment of starting from P17. His growing maturity has been one of the stories of the latter half of the season.

Daniel Ricciardo drove a long first stint, running as high as third and may have had eyes on a better result than the P10 he managed. That said he’ll be pleased with his efforts after he managed to hold off Fernando Alonso in the closing laps to grab a championship point.

And not much else really matters from tonight’s race because, deservedly, it’s all about Sebastian Vettel. His win secured a fourth constructors’ title in succession for Red Bull as well. Instead of returning his car to parc fermé, Vettel chose to entertain the crowd with a series of donuts on the main straight. Is there a better way to celebrate a record-breaking dual championship result?

It’s worth noting at the mid-season break, after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Vettel lead the championship title race by 38 points over Raikkonen. Handy, but not insurmountable. Fellow world champions Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were also in touching distance. Since then, though, Vettel has won the ensuing six races and his unbeatable championship lead is now a staggering 115 points.

Vettel joins Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher as the only men to win four world titles. By some margin Vettel is the youngest man to achieve this record. The rule changes of 2014 may well upset Red Bull’s on-track dominance, making a fifth title harder to predict. But you sense a fifth world crown, and perhaps more, will come before he retires from the sport.

2013 Indian Grand Prix final placings

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 60 Laps (25 pts)
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – +29.8 secs (18 pts)
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus – +39.8 (15 pts)
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari – +41.6 secs (12 pts)
5. Sergio Perez McLaren – +43.8 secs (10 pts)
6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – +52.4 secs (8 pts)
7. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – +67.9 secs (6 pts)
8. Paul di Resta Force India – +72.8 secs (4 pts)
9. Adrian Sutil Force India – +74.7 secs (2 pts)
10. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – +76.2 secs (1 pt)
11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – +78.2 secs
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams – +78.9 secs
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – +1 Lap
14. Jenson Button McLaren – +1 Lap
15. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +1 Lap
16. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +1 Lap
17. Max Chilton Marussia – +2 Laps
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia – +2 Laps
19. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – +6 Laps

Retired/not classified
Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – +21 Laps (Alternator)
Charles Pic Caterham – +25 Laps (Mechanical failure)
Giedo van der Garde Caterham – +59 Laps (Accident)

Fastest lap
Kimi Raikkonen Lotus – 1:29.679 (Lap 60)

2013 F1 world championship – Drivers (top 10)

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 322
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 207
3. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – 183
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 169
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – 148
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 144
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus – 102
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 102
9. Jenson Button McLaren – 60
10. Paul di Resta Force India – 40

2013 F1 world championship – Constructors

1. Red Bull Racing-Renault – 470
2. Mercedes – 313
3. Ferrari – 309
4. Lotus-Renault – 285
5. McLaren-Mercedes – 93
6. Force India-Mercedes – 68
7. Sauber-Ferrari – 45
8. STR-Ferrari – 32
9. Williams-Renault – 1
10. Marussia-Cosworth – 0
11. Caterham-Renault – 0