Greater Noida: Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel not only won the Indian Grand Prix for third time in a row but also cruised into history books by winning his fourth consecutive Formula One world title at the Buddh International Circuit, here on Sunday.
Vettel finished an astonishing 29.8 seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg in second in a Mercedes. Romain Grosjean finished third in a Lotus, 10 seconds farther back.
With this win, he took his points tally to 322. Only Ferrai's Fernando Alonso could have kept the championship alive but he could not get a single point by finishing a distant 11th.
With his fourth championship, achieved with 10 wins this season, Vettel levels French great Alain Prost on the all-time list with only Fangio (five) and Schumacher (seven) ahead of him.
Ever since the Formula One world arrived in India, Vettel has dominated everything from dominating practice sessions to winning all three Poles and races.
Only two drivers before Vettel have won four straight titles -- Juan Manuel Fangio from Argentina and German great Michael Schumacher. Frenchman Alain Prost is another driver who has won four titles but he did not win those in a row and Vettel is now youngest quadruple champion at the age 26.
It was Vettel's sixth win in a row and the affable German now has the record of nine consecutive wins in sight with three races to go in the season.
Speaking after the race, Vettel thanked the crowd for the overwhelming support. “First of all I would love to say thank you to the crowds, it was an unbelievable reception today and it’s a shame we are not racing here next year. I'm speechless. I crossed the line and I was empty. I took ages to think about something to say. It's one of these moments where you want to say so many things but you can't,” said Vettel, adding that it's had such a phenomenal season.
“I think the team and the spirit inside the team is so strong; I said it on the radio already – it gives me so much power. It's a pleasure to jump in the car and go out for the guys and girls and try to give it all I have. The car was fantastic today. I didn’t think about the do-nuts before the race today – it just happened. My engineer directed for the usual procedure, but I said ‘not this time!’. There are so many people on the main grandstand here, I just had to do it,” said Vettel.
“I want to say a big thank you to the team to all the people behind us. It was for sure not an easy season and even though people on the outside thought we had it in our hands, I think it was difficult. It a was tough season for me personally, to receive boos even though we haven’t done anything wrong; to overcome that and give the right answer on the track and get acceptance makes me very proud. To join people like Prost, Fangio and Michael is unbelievable. I think this is one of the best days in my life so far. There are so many people that I have to thank; I've always tried to listen and learn and it's incredible to race some of the best drivers in the world,” added the world champion.
