Sebastian Vettel's greatest F1 drives

Vettel actually started from the pitlane after Red Bull changed his gear ratios and reduced drag to make it easier to cut through the field. He made rapid progress to 13th but this was negated by front wing damage, partly due to contact with Bruno Senna.

After having a new front wing fitted, Vettel was at the back again, although a safety car had compressed the field, making his subsequent charge more feasible.

As Kimi Räikkönen famously knew what he was doing in the lead, Vettel climbed the order once more and, in the closing laps, made a sensational pass on Jenson Button, going round the outside of Turn 11 to take the final podium place.

Räikkönen’s resilience held Alonso in second place, and the Ferrari driver wasn’t far off being targeted by Vettel, who finished only four seconds behind the race-winner, and lost just three points in the championship.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

Vettel’s Abu Dhabi form carried over to that season’s finale at Interlagos, where the Red Bull driver had to fight hard — in similar circumstances — for that third title.

Starting in fourth, a terrible start had him down in seventh after a couple of corners before it got much worse: contact with Senna (again) on the first lap sent Vettel once more to the back with a damaged sidepod in the pouring rain.

With Alonso fighting for the podium places, which could see him crowned champion, Vettel had it all to do. By lap 23 he was fifth and in a title-winning position, but as conditions dried, he increasingly struggled with the damage to his car and dropped down the order.

More rain should have seen him yo-yo back up, but when Vettel pitted, his team wasn’t ready, costing him around 7.5sec.

It wasn’t the slick servicing he needed, but he once again picked up the slack and did what he needed to, claiming P6. With Alonso finishing second behind Jenson Button, Vettel had the points he needed for his third championship.

2013 Indian Grand Prix 

Another title decider and another charge from the back, only the 2013 Indian Grand Prix saw Vettel dominate entirely to clinch the title with three races still remaining.

He claimed an impressive pole by 0.752 seconds, using the soft tyre but that compound was much less effective in the race and Vettel had to pit from the lead at the end of lap two.

He emerged in traffic and having briefly fallen down to P17, Vettel had stormed his way to third by lap 13.

Eight tours of the circuit later, Vettel displaced Sergio Perez for second. Mark Webber pitted from the lead soon afterwards and the German was back in front.

Despite the early setback, nobody came close to Vettel’s performance that day and he won by 29.823 seconds to to secure his crown.

That win in India was also his sixth in a row and by the end of the season, Vettel made it nine, underlining his superiority that year.

2018 British Grand Prix

The Ferrari years won’t be seen as Vettel’s finest, but his sensational talent still shone.

He was Lewis Hamilton’s closest rival in 2018 and delivered a blow in the title race, right in his backyard.

Starting on the front row at Silverstone together, Vettel managed to jump the pole-sitter Hamilton from the start, who then was sent spinning to the back after a collision with Kimi Raikkonen.

He led comfortably for much of the race but then an extra pitstop had put Vettel behind Valtteri Bottas with 18 laps to go.

In the closing laps, Ferrari’s man was last on the brakes to deliver a great overtake for the lead down the inside of Brooklands.

It extended his championship lead over Hamilton and stopped the Briton’s run of four consecutive victories at Silverstone.

From start-to-finish, Vettel was the class of the field, showing all of the pace that made him a four-time world champion