Sebastian Vettel became Formula One’s youngest world champion in a five-way shootout at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November 2010, and the German needs just one point in Japan this weekend to seal a second world crown.
Vettel’s dominant form in 2011 has led him to victory in nine of 14 races so far, and the 24-year-old is on the brink of becoming the ninth driver to secure back-to-back titles in the championship’s 61-year history.
If he does so, the celebrations will come with four races to go—putting Vettel narrowly behind his legendary compatriot Michael Schumacher, who set the standard in 2002 when he clinched the fifth of his record seven world titles with six of the 17 races remaining.
Vettel will also become the youngest double world champion, beating the 25-year-old Fernando Alonso’s feat with Renault in 2005-06.
Former Toro Rosso driver Vettel needs to earn a 10th-place finish, or higher, in one of the season’s five remaining grands prix to complete his triumph. CNN International
The only driver who can prevent Vettel from becoming only the ninth back-to-back world champion on Sunday is McLaren’s Jenson Button and to do that he would have to win at Suzuka while the German must fail to score for the first time in 17 races going back to last October.
Button did not think that was remotely likely but still enjoyed the pretence that he remained a threat to Vettel’s dreams.
Vettel, sitting next to the 2009 world champion in a news conference, had pointed out that there was “still a chance for Jenson to win the title and for me not to”.
Refusing to take anything for granted, the German stuck to his familiar mantra of keeping his feet on the ground, facing each race at a time.
“The moment you decide to fly, sooner or later there’s a moment when you will come down as well,” Vettel warned. “You have to, nothing flies for ever.”
He also laughingly suggested that if anyone wanted to do him a favour, they could maybe push Button down the stairs on the way out. Hindustan Times
Pos Driver Team Points 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 309 2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 185 3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 184 4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 182 5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 168 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 84 7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 62 8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 52 9 Vitaly Petrov Renault 34 10 Nick Heidfeld Renault 34 11 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 28 12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 27 13 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 20 14 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 16 15 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 13 16 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 9 17 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 4 18 Bruno Senna Renault 2 19 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1 20 Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 0 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 0 22 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 0 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 0 24 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 0 25 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 0 26 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 0 27 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 0 28 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 0
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