Sebastian Vettel will try to become the youngest man to successfully defend a formula one world title when he bids for his ninth win of the year in this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old German will also aim to complete a hat-trick for Red Bull, after successes in Belgium and Italy.
Vettel, who has 284 points, holds a lead of 112 on nearest rival and two-time champion Fernando Alonso, of Ferrari.
To take the title on Sunday, he needs to enlarge that lead to 125 or more ahead of the final five races.
This means a win will be enough for Vettel only if Alonso fails to deliver a podium finish for Ferrari, a target that he has hit seven times this season. Britain’s Jenson Button, of McLaren, and Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, of Australia, are level on 167 points, a further five adrift of Alonso.
Vettel could win the title by taking a cautious approach to the final six races starting this weekend, accumulating points without taking risks. The Age
But despite the apparent advantage his car possesses, he is taking nothing for granted. “It’s over when it’s over, not before. I think [you can] look at last year as the best proof. You don’t know until the last lap of the last race,” he said.
“I think we just do Singapore as we did all the other races this year. Go there and take it step by step and see what we can do. I love the circuit. It is very interesting.”
It is beyond doubt, however, that the world champion is supremely confident. Asked, jokingly, if he might take a break to keep the championship interesting he said: “No plans. I think it’s wrong to plan before something happens. It would be wrong for you to plan what you would do with a million dollars if you won the lottery tomorrow.” The Guardian
Pos Driver Team Points 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 284 2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 172 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 167 4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 167 5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 158 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 82 7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 56 8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 52 9 Vitaly Petrov Renault 34 10 Nick Heidfeld Renault 34 11 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 27 12 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 24 13 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 16 14 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 13 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 12 16 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 8 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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