Sebastian Vettel made his Formula 1 debut for BMW Sauber at the 2007 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, after being promoted from test driver to substitute for the injured Robert Kubica following the Pole’s terrifying crash at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The German qualified seventh and finished one place lower, becoming the then-youngest points finisher in F1. His performance was so impressive that Toro Rosso came calling for his services following Scott Speed’s release ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
At the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, Vettel once again showed his class, working his way up to third in treacherous conditions. However, behind the safety car, he misjudged his distance to Red Bull driver Mark Webber and collided with the Australian, resulting in both dropping out of the race.
In the next race in China, Vettel worked his way up from 17th on the grid to a superb fourth in changeable conditions to once again prove his talents, earning himself a full-time seat at Toro Rosso for 2008.
The beginning of the 2008 season was a difficult experience for the German, with four non-finishes in the first four races stripping him of the momentum he had built up throughout his first half-season in the sport. At Monaco, he repeated his form from China a year before to rise from the back of the grid to score his first points of the season in fourth.
Then at the Italian Grand Prix, a star was born. Becoming the youngest pole-sitter in the sport, Vettel dominated in wet conditions at Monza to take the chequered flag by a distance from McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. The then-youngest race winner had earned Toro Rosso and himself the first Formula 1 victory.
For 2009, Vettel was promoted to the main Red Bull team in place of the retired David Coulthard to partner Webber.
Formula 1 had undergone extensive regulation changes, with Red Bull and the new Brawn GP team jumping to the top of the field. Whilst Jenson Button stormed to victory in the season opener, Vettel was on course for second place before a tangle with Kubica put both drivers out of the race.
In China, Vettel secured the team’s first pole position and race win, whilst further victories in Great Britain, Japan and the inaugural day-night race in Abu Dhabi ensured a second-place finish in the world drivers’ championship behind Button.
Vettel and Red Bull carried form into the new decade, with five victories adding to his career tally. The first race of the season should have yielded a further win, before a mechanical issue forced Vettel to slow in the closing stages.
At the Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel and Webber famously collided when leading the race, sparking in-house fighting between the pair that would continue throughout their joint time with the team.
Wins at the final two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi would be enough for Vettel to clinch his first world championship, pipping long-time leaders Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to the title. He became the youngest champion in the sport’s history and only the third to win by only topping the standings after the final race.
2011 brought even more success for the German. Vettel finished in the top two in each of the first nine races, winning six of them. In fact, Vettel only finished below second on three occasions as a further five wins clinched a second world championship in dominant fashion. His 15 poles during the season are the most by a single driver in a campaign.
Looking to add a third title to his name, 2012 was a more complicated campaign for Vettel. The field had bunched, with seven winners in the first seven races of the year keeping the championship compact. It wasn’t until the Korean and Indian Grands Prix in the final quarter of the season that Vettel was able to stretch clear from Alonso.
In the final race of the season, Vettel held a cushion of 13 points over his Spanish rival but, in tricky conditions, sustained damage after contact with Bruno Senna on the opening lap. Despite his floor damage, Vettel masterfully climbed back through the field to finish sixth and take the title by a slender three-point margin.
The final of Vettel’s four world titles to date would come in 2013 in spectacular fashion, winning 13 times with a record-equalling nine consecutive race victories in a row closing out the season. The year was not without yet more inter-team controversy, however, as his Malaysian Grand Prix triumph was overshadowed by the multi-21 controversy in which the German seemingly disobeyed team directives to overtake team-mate Webber for the win.
The turbo-Hybrid era of Formula 1 badly affected Red Bull as Mercedes sauntered off into the distance with a significantly better performing power unit. Vettel was outscored by new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo and failed to take a single race win – the first defending champion to fail to register a victory since Jacques Villeneuve in 1998. Vettel would leave Red Bull at the end of the year.
For 2015, Vettel followed in the footsteps of his idol Michael Schumacher by making the switch to Ferrari. In just his second race with the Scuderia, the German secured his and the team’s first victory for over a year in Malaysia.
Further victories at Hungary and Singapore helped Vettel to third in the championship behind the two Mercedes drivers.
2016, however, was a different story, as Vettel – despite consistently scoring top-five finishes – failed to take a victory all season long. Ferrari and Vettel needed to come back strong and, indeed, they did in 2017.
Vettel was Lewis Hamilton’s closest challenger for two seasons, taking five wins in each season. There was plenty of controversy between the two drivers as Ferrari got back on terms with the Silver Arrows. Azerbaijan was the biggest flashpoint, with the pair colliding behind the safety car.
In 2018, Vettel secured four wins in the first half of the season to take control of the world championship. But a mistake when leading in tricky conditions at his home grand prix in Germany typified his second half of the year and became the first in a spate of mistakes in Ferrari red.
Unfortunately, Vettel struggled throughout his final two seasons at the team, with costly spins when in close combat tarnishing his reputation. A final win at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix before a final podium at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix at least gave the German something to smile about in difficult times.
Despite some shaky performances and a car that had regressed from 2020, Vettel’s maiden year as an Aston Martin driver saw the revitalised German fight back from the doldrums.
A podium in Baku was followed up – albeit before being disqualified – in Hungary.
The team has praised Vettel for the level of professionalism and knowledge he is giving behind the scenes as it aims to join the top teams in F1.
