Sebastian Vettel's career of Victory, Defeat, and Transformation.

As the sun sets on Sebastian Vettel’s glorious career in F1, the racing world must collectively reflect and rejoice in the wonderful brilliance of the German. Seb’s career was one of joy, pain, and respect. The two halves of his career were both filled with moments, some wonderful, some agonizing, but all served to create the driver we all know and love.

Du Bist Weltmeister.

Sebastian Vettel was only 26 years of age when he took the checkered flag at the Buddh International circuit in 2013. He took home his 4th consecutive world drivers’ championship, rewriting the history books as the youngest to achieve the feat. Alain Prost and Juan Manuel Fangio, 4- and 5-time world champions, had not even won a race at the age of 26. This Fresh-faced German had summited the mountain of F1 four times. He was an inevitable force, who seemed unbeatable, and for those 4 years, he was. The combination of Sebastian Vettel and His Red Bulls is one that sits atop the mountain of Driver-car combinations. Schumacher’s Ferraris, Senna’s McLarens, Hamilton’s Mercedes, and Vettel’s Red Bulls.

Belgium. Italy. Singapore. Korea. Japan. India. Abu Dhabi. United States. Brazil. 9 countries, 4 continents, and 1 driver ruling them all ruthlessly, and with no rest. From the 25th of August to the 24th of November Sebastian Vettel started 9 Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel won 9 Grand Prix. It was perhaps the greatest level of dominion that we have ever seen in the sport. Audiences grew tired of hearing the Austrian-German national anthem combination, as that same face, wagged that same finger every weekend.

While Vettel’s performance reached its climax towards the back half of 2013, he did have a tight grasp of the world drivers’ championship from 2010 to 2013. The run of consecutive WDCs was a sight to behold…for those in 2022. During those 4 years, Sebastian Vettel played the role of F1’s pantomime villain, and he did it by being better than everyone. It was when fans were sick and tired of seeing him take the checkered flag, that he would win by 15 seconds. When all hope seemed lost for opposition fans, that magenta red bull would make them lose the hope they didn’t know they had.

“it’s just the car” “the car is illegal” “Adrian Newey is the only reason he wins” The dominance had reached the stage where fans had to justify its greatness by trying to discredit it, they would boo as he sprayed champagne, race after race.

Seb was reviled and thought of as an entitled brash youngster, who thought it was his birthright to win Grand Prix. His relationship with teammate Mark Webber was a stick that fans beat Vettel with.

“I was racing I was faster I passed him I won” was what Seb proclaimed when asked about an incident with teammate Webber. The pair were set to finish 1-2, with Webber leading the German home. Vettel however was too determined on taking the checkered flag first. He began attacking the Aussie, and as he said he was faster, he did pass him, and he did win. Vettel fell out of favor with F1 fans, but he did not care. He had tunnel vision and was focused on a singular goal: winning. This hyper-fixated goal (and the constant achieving of the goal) made fans label him as arrogant and selfish, which is not too far from the truth, but the arrogance was earned and in 2013, it seemed as though he would never be humbled.

Despite coming off a record-breaking run, the 2014 season would be a trying one for the German. It was unfamiliar territory, as F1 was hit with the biggest regulation change in recent history. Both Seb and Red Bull failed to get on top of the new rules, resulting in Seb’s first and only Red Bull season without a win. To make matters worse, Seb had a new teammate who was overperforming the car and managed to record a staggering 3 wins. Daniel Ricciardo was young, dynamic, and got the best of the consensus best driver in the world. This was once again something that Vettel was not familiar with, he had never been beaten by his teammate.

Red Bull felt they no longer needed their star boy. Sebastian believed he was not being given the tools he needed and that he was destined for bigger things, and bigger things would soon come knocking.

Lucilla.

As a boy growing up in Heppenheim, Sebastian would be enamored weekend after weekend, by a Rosso Corsa car flying through racetracks all over the world. Driving that car would be Seb’s Childhood hero Michael Schumacher, a 7-time champion, who redefined what it meant to be great. Vettel looked to his German compatriot as a symbol of what he wanted to be. He wanted to be fierce like Michael, to be funny like Michael, to be respected like Michael. He wanted to be like Mike. In 2014 the same team that brought Schumacher his glory, offered Sebastian a drive, how could he turn it down? Vettel saw visions of grandeur; he saw himself winning races and championships in the same red car that Michael did. He would break even more records, and maybe even win more than 7 world titles.

“A failure” is what Vettel called his time at Ferrari before he departed the Scuderia. Unable to stop the Mercedes Juggernaut, Vettel faced trying times in pursuit of a fifth driver’s crown. He and the team would come tantalizingly close at times in 2017 and 2018, but it would always be snatched away from them. At times through their own doing, at times because they simply could not compete.

The difference in work culture between the two teams was also a contributing factor to Vettel’s struggle to adapt to the ways of the prancing horse. The historical perception of Ferrari is that of a driven, serious, and passionate team. They have their specific ways of operating and don’t budge often. Why would they? Most podiums, most wins, and most championships are just some of the team’s accolades.

The issue with this culture and this environment is that it can make or break the driver. Most teams cater to their drivers, they are the main goal and priority. Ferrari’s main goal is to be Ferrari, the drivers are simply the means through which they attain success, and at times drivers thrive under this pressure. However, as we have seen in this pressure cooker environment to meet certain benchmarks, drivers simply cannot cope. Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa. 3 remarkably talented drivers, who struggled to find success with the scarlet team, unfortunately, Seb would follow in their footsteps.

Seb came from Red Bull. A subdivision of an energy drinks brand. In essence, the creation of the Red Bull racing team is the most expensive marketing strategy possible. Red Bull as a whole, does have a work culture that is focused on innovation and cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit of their employees. This extends into their racing team, where there was generally a lightheartedness to their proceedings, especially when compared with Ferrari. Vettel, who had garnered a reputation for having a good sense of humor throughout the paddock, thrived in this environment. While he did feel the passion of Ferrari and their fans, nothing quite compares to Christian Horner cannonballing into the pool at Monaco wearing nothing but a superman cape.

This change in circumstance was also followed by a change in the way Seb was perceived by F1 fans. The constant images of the German on the top step of the podium, wagging his finger, no longer plagued F1 fans with that same torturous regularity. This made Sebastian seem like the underdog with heart, rather than the ruthless assassin he was once thought of as. He had transformed from Goliath to David, and if there is one thing, we know about F1 fans, it’s that they love David a lot more than Goliath.

“When I stand on the podium in a red suit, I realize people don’t hate me as much as I thought,” said Sebastian in 2015.

Glorious Victory vs. Heartbreaking Defeat.

Sebastian Vettel’s career in F1 has had many highs and many lows, but there are two that stand out from the top and the bottom of his pile of moments in F1. One that perfectly encapsulates Seb’s inevitability and relentlessness of his time at Red Bull and one that displays the unfortunate “nearly man” nature of his time with the Scuderia.

13 points were the gap before the 2012 Brazilian grand Prix, it has been a title fight for the ages. The challenge that the German faced would come in the form of the mighty Fernando Alonso. Both drivers at the peak of their powers, trading blows weekend after weekend. With the pace that Seb and his RB8 were showing, and with the points gap being a relatively large 13, it seemed almost certain that Sebastian was on for the threepeat. This feeling was further compounded when Alonso qualified a lowly 8th and Seb put his car in the top 4. Fernando had to win the race to stand a chance, and Vettel just had to cross the line in the top 4. It seemed straightforward, and all but certain that the WDC would be going to Milton Keynes.

As fate would have it, there was one more factor to be added. Rain, the great equalizer. 10 minutes before the start of the race, droplets began to fall at Interlagos, but the paddock was unfazed, and the race began.

Despite starting 8th and 4th, Seb and Fernando would cross paths very soon. Vettel got off to a poor start, as he dropped to P7 and Alonso had a trademark excellent start, making up three positions in P5. It would go from bad to worse for the German, at the end of the Senna S’ he found himself facing the wrong direction after tangling with (Ironically enough) Bruno Senna.

P22 was where the world champion found himself, and a mountain to climb if he was to defend it. To make matters worse, Alonso carried on his fiery start, with a double overtake on Felipe Massa and Mark Webber, to put him into world championship-taking position.

While overtaking 16 cars may seem like a tall order, Seb did not show that he was feeling the heat. He simply did a swift 180 spin turn and set out on his recovery with his head down and his broken sidepod.

Lap after lap, car after car fell to the flashing magenta of Sebastian Vettel and his RB8. Every sector, every corner was pushed to the limit and the recovery was made to P5, but the downpour became more intense, causing a pit stop debacle that dropped Seb to P7. With Alonso sitting in P2, Seb had to dig deep one last time. In treacherous conditions, he overtook his hero Michael Schumacher, hauling his wounded bull across the finish line under safety car.

A race of magic, from a wizard at the wheel, not even the elements could stop Sebastian Vettel from being crowned as F1’s monarch for the 3rd year running

“They threw everything at us, but we bounced back. Never give up, be ourselves” he shouted from the top of his lungs.

6 years later that same voice would let out a devastated cry, that represented a broken driver, who could only lament his mistake. The 2018 German Grand Prix was one of anguish and pain for Seb and The Ferrari team.

It started out so promisingly, with Seb leading the world championship by 8 points to Lewis Hamilton. The Brit was limited to P14 by his car giving way in Q2. Seb stormed to pole, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, and Teammate Kimi Raikkonen. In front of his adoring home fans, 30 minutes away from his hometown, Sebastian Vettel was on top of the world. Facing the mouthwatering prospect of winning his home race, with his boyhood team.

In perhaps the most poetic, and gut-wrenching tale of events, the very thing that caused Sebastian Vettel’s greatest achievement, would cause his greatest undoing. Rain. Seb led for 50 laps, not putting a foot wrong, then it began. The skies became a gloomy grey, and a feeling of chilling uncertainty swept Hockenheim.

On lap 52, with the drizzle coming down, Seb locked up into turn 12, and his Ferrari skated onto the gravel for what seemed like an eternity. It was a slow and excruciating run down to the barrier. The crowd gasped in equal parts shock and pain. The dream of winning his home race with Ferrari was dead, his lead in the championship was gone, as Hamilton took the checkered flag from 14th. He wouldn’t know it at the time, but this would be the last time that Sebastian Vettel led the F1 world championship standings.

It marked the beginning of a painful frustrating end of one of the greatest drivers in the history of F1.

Swan Song.

The urban legend of the swan song refers to a beautiful tune sung by a swan before its death. Towards the latter half of the 2022 season, we have been lucky enough to witness Sebastian Vettel’s swan song, and it has been beautiful. Stellar performances in Baku, Suzuka, and COTA have seen Seb show glimmers of the strawberry-blonde bright-eyed wunderkind. His final performance in British racing green has been one of ups and downs, emblematic of Seb’s roller coaster of a career

Excellence breeds hatred. To be the best at something is also to be the most hated, the most envied. We have seen it from the dawn of time, and perhaps it will never change. It takes a very special talent and personality to be able to rise above the hatred of being excellent. Seb had the talent and personality by the bucket load.

The reverence of him as a driver, spokesperson, and human being is something that has defined Seb towards the later stages of his career. An inspiration, a legend, a world champion. Influencing a number of younger F1 drivers to hone their craft, and always being a role model of a driver, of an athlete, and of a person.

When asked what he wanted his legacy to be he replied “I don’t really care, I don’t think people will remember me”

Time will prove Seb wrong; he will be remembered not for his blazing glory on the track, but for the smiles and laughter, the comfort and joy he gave F1 fans. An inspiration to all, Sebastian Vettel’s impact on the sport goes beyond the history books into something ethereal and everlasting.

The Legend of the Weltmeister will never die.