Sebastian Vettel bio

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Pre-F1

Sebastian Vettel started out in Karts in 1995. It was in 2003 that he first moved to open-wheel racing and in 2004 he took the German Formula BMW title winning an amazing 18 out of the 20 races. A year later he moved to the Formula Three Euro Series and finished 5th overall being the top rookie. Future F1 world champ Lewis Hamilton took the title. Vettel got to drive a Williams and then BMW Sauber F1 cars as a prize for his Formula BMW domination.

Vettel finished up 2nd in the 2006 F3 Euroseries. The same year took part in three races in the World Series by Renault and took his first and only race win at Misano in Italy on his debut.

BMW Sauber

Sebastian Vettel driving for Red Bull in 2006 - Photo © BMW AG

Vettel continued in the World Series by Renault in 2007 and finished 5th in the championship overall, despite only taking part in 7 of the 17 races. He left F3 after the Hungarian round of the championship to move to a third driver role at BMW Sauber, to take over the role of Robert Kubica who got promoted to a race seat, to cover for the departed Jacques Villeneuve. Vettel instantly impressed, setting the fastest practice lap at Monza.

He stayed on as BMW Sauber’s third driver for 2007 and got to make his F1 debut at the US Grand Prix when he stood in for Robert Kubica who was injured in a bad accident at the Canadian Grand Prix. Vettel made it through to the final part of qualifying and lined up 7th on the grid. Thanks to a late retirement from Williams driver Nico Rosberg, Vettel finished eighth and became the youngest ever driver to score a point in F1.

Toro Rosso

Vettel clearly impressed Toro Rosso and 10 races in BMW Sauber released him to drive for the Faenza-based team, replacing Scott Speed. He failed to score points in his first five races and retired from two, but he scored a stunning 4th place at the penultimate race of the season at the Chinese Grand Prix, before retiring for a third time at Brazil. Vettel finished 14th in the drivers championship having scored 6 world championship points.

Vettel celebrates an astonishing day at Monza, winning the Italian Grand Prix - Photo © Red Bull/Getty Images

Continuing at Toro Rosso for 2008, Vettel had a bad start in the STR2B, retiring in the opening 4 races of the season and finishing 17th at the Turkish Grand Prix. However, after this race Toro Rosso released the new STR3 and it immediately payed dividends. A 5th place at Monaco was followed by an 8th at Canada. An 8th, 6th and 5th came before Vettel secured Toro Rosso’s first ever win in a rain soaked race at Monza. The successful season continued with a further 5th and 6th place finishes and was capped off with a terrific 4th place at Brazil.

Red Bull

For 2009 Vettel moved from Toro Rosso to its other, Red Bull backed sister team, Red Bull Racing alongside Mark Webber. The RB5 was a simply brilliant car and was in a battle for the championship with Brawn GP, however Red Bull just missed out. Had RBR had the ‘double-diffuser’ at the start of the season like Brawn GP, maybe it would be a different story. Vettel got Red Bull’s first Grand Prix win at the Chinese Grand Prix and repeated that success 3 more times at Silverstone, Suzuka and the new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

In 2010 Sebastian Vettel had an incredible year and became the youngest ever Formula 1 world champion, winning it in dramatic circumstances at Abu Dhabi. It seemed like it was all but over for Vettel going into the final race of the season at the Yas Marina circuit after his engine gave up in the dying laps in the inaugural Korean Grand Prix. However, he bounced back with a faultless final two races of the season, winning in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, taking the championship after a bad strategy ruined both Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso‘s hopes. His championship wasn’t all perfect though, hampered by reliability issues and at loggerheads with his teammate Mark Webber, it was a tough but undoubtedly deserved title for the young German.

Vettel will continue at Red Bull for 2011.

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