It's lap 15 of the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Lewis Hamilton leads from Mark Webber, while further back Jenson Button is defending his position from Sebasiten Vettel going into the Bus Stop Chicane. They are side by side as they enter the braking zone, with Button on the inside line. Then, Sebastien loses control of his car, spears into the side of Button and takes the Englishman out of the race, while the young German continues to the pits for a new front wing, eventually finishing the race in 15th place, a lap down on the race winner Hamilton.
This move was typical of Vettel’s season to date – too many errors during the races meant he had yet to lead the championship, despite the fact he had more pole positions than any other driver. The undoubted king of Saturday afternoon had problems converting his pace to race wins so far in the season, winning only two races and having several problems during the race, such as mechanical problems in Bahrain and Australia, and the now-infamous collision with team-mate Mark Webber in Turkey.
But this crash was different to the other incident he had this year. This one was the incident that seemed to change his outlook. He got a hard time over colliding with Button when he really should have had better control of his car. It caused him to take a long, hard look at his driving, and the outcome was that, if he was to ever be world champion, he needs to convert his qualifying pace into the races, and to be calmer out on track.
Next time out in Monza Sebastien didn’t take pole, but qualified 6th. But a calm head in the race, combined with a good tyre strategy by Red Bull which didn’t see him pit until the last lap, meant he gained two places during the race and finished 4th – which was to prove key. In Singapore he improved again, qualifying and finishing in a strong second place behind Fernando Alonso, pushing the Spaniard hard all weekend. It was a race which he could have won but for Alonso’s excellent driving in the middle of the race
Then F1 arrived at Suzuka – a circuit Sebastien had dominated on last year. It was like de ja vu as Vettel once again dominated around the Japanese track, taking pole and win. Yet even at this stage it looked like the title was out of reach, and it would take a little luck for him to even be in with a chance at the final race in Abu Dhabi.
And it looked like the luck had came his way when championship leader Mark Webber crashed out of the next race in Korea, meaning if Vettel could win he would lead the championship with two races left. Alas, it was not to be, as an engine failure gifted the win and championship lead to Alonso, and Vettel was 25pts behind the Spaniard with two races remaining. He had to beat Alonso by some margin in the final two races if he was to take the title.
In Brazil it came back to Sebastien, despite missing out on pole position. He overtook pole man Nico Hulkenberg into the first corner, and dominated the race from there on. He took a comfortable win, and went into the season finale at Abu Dhabi with a realistic chance of the title. He was 15pts behind Alonso, and 8 behind his team-mate Webber. He had to win to have any realistic chance of winning the crown.
Rumours were rife that, should Vettel be leading Webber going into the final few laps of the grand prix then Sebastien would be asked to move over for his team-mate and give Webber the title. Sebastien even fuelled these rumours by saying he would do everything he could to make sure a Red Bull driver won the title – but cannily did not say which driver. Pole position for the race, with Alonso third and Webber fifth, meant that it looked like Sebastien would be doing everything he could to help Webber – all Webber needed to do was get up to second place in the race. But if Alonso finished in fourth place, regardless of what Sebastien would do, then it would be he and not the German or Australian who would take a third championship.
In the race Vettel was stunning, leading almost every lap and taking a dominant win. Lewis Hamilton finished second, Jenson Button third, but the most significant driver from Vettel’s point of view was Nico Rosberg finishing fourth, meaning that Alonso’s 7th place was not enough to prevent Sebastien Vettel overtaking him in the title race. For the first time in his career, Vettel lead the championship, and more significantly, it was the final standings, meaning Sebastien Vettel became Formula 1’s youngest ever world champion. And there is no doubt that the young German will look back on the season, and still feel that Spa became the turning point for both his season and perhaps his career.
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