Driving like a champion, Sebastian Vettel on Sunday notched up a start-to-finish victory at the Formula One Indian Grand Prix to extend his lead over Ferrari rival Fernando Alonso to 13 points in the overall championship table.
Vettel got away from the rest from the start and widened the gap further to claim his second consecutive win at the Buddh International Circuit. This was the fourth win in a row and fifth overall for the season for the Red Bull driver. Alonso, running a close second in the drivers’ standings and starting fifth on the grid, displayed his fighting abilities to claim the second spot. Mark Webber, the other Red Bull driver, staved off a strong challenge from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton to take the third place.
The win took Vettel to 240 points and helped Red Bull, now 407 points, cushion its place further at the top of the table. Ferrari, on 316, and McLaren, on 306, were at second and third slots with three races to go. Vettel drew satisfaction from the fact that the teamwork took him to a perfect triumph, in which he used the one-stop strategy to finish nearly 10 seconds clear of the second-placed Alonso. “It was a result of all of us working hard together over the weekend…It was a perfect strategy from the team,” said the German. Alonso, needing to stay as close to Vettel as possible in order to keep his chances alive for the championship, gave a valiant performance. He overtook Hamilton after the first corner of the opening lap and used the DRS to get past the other McLaren driver Jenson Button three laps later.
The Spaniard moved ahead of Webber with 12 laps to go as the Australian faced some problems with his KERS. He pushed hard in the closing stages but Vettel was too fast for him. “I think I can win the championship. I will not give up,” said Alonso. Webber, who went one place up to be fourth overall, was happy to keep the third place. Force India drivers gave a creditable performance in their ‘home’ race. Nico Hulkenberg improved from his 12th spot on the grid to grab the eighth position. Paul di Resta, who started 16th, managed the 12th place.
HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan completed his second consecutive race to end up 21st. Three retirements, including that of his team mate Pedro de la Rosa and Michael Schumacher, helped the Indian.He has done it again. After beginning the year on a low note facing lots of ups and downs, 25-year-old Sebastian Vettel has silenced his critics with four successive GP titles after winning the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) for the second time in a row. This is the first time in his glittering career that Vettel has claimed four consecutive wins. No driver since Button in 2009 had managed to do so. Vettel has now extended his lead to 13 points ahead of Ferrari’s Alonso and has also tightened his grip on securing a third successive world title.
It was chaos all around post the inaugural Airtel Indian Grand Prix last year. Most of the drivers were back in their pits and were too tired to appear before the media after a tiring day. Not Sebastian Vettel, though. He looked as fresh as he did before the race, and happily answered the barrage of questions thrown at him after winning the race. Moreover, he was quite used to facing the media in 2011 when he had cruised to back-to-back victories, taking his tally to 11 with the Indian GP.
The defending champion didn’t have a great start to 2012 and he deserves full credit for the stellar comeback. He was lagging 40 points behind Alonso at one point in the beginning of the year. But the champion that he is, Vettel, prior to the Indian GP was leading by 6 points ahead of Alonso which has now been extended to 13. The world title hasn’t been sealed yet, thanks to Alonso, who raced his heart out as he finished second after beginning from the fifth place.
The German dominated in both the practice sessions on Friday. On Saturday, Vettel once again led the proceedings as he bagged the pole position. The two-time world champion has once again shown that he is an expert when it comes to leading from that position.
Analysts believed that the Indian track at the Buddh International Circuit is quite similar to that of the Korean one. It has long straights in the early part of the lap followed by more twisted, technical sections. After winning his second Indian Grand Prix, Vettel has now moved a step closer towards his third successive world crown. As predicted, the track at the Buddh International Circuit once again suited the Red Bull drivers as Mark Webber came third giving Red Bull two podium finishes.
On Friday, while Vettel clocked the fastest time with 1 minute 25.283 seconds to grab pole, his teammate Webber finished second with a timing of 1:25.327; and thus Red Bull started as clear favourites on Sunday with two of its drivers in the top three.
It’s the end of another successful Indian Grand Prix. India has been lauded for the improvement it has shown as compared to last year. There have been a lot of changes since the inaugural race. But the result has been the same. While all the drivers once again tried to win their maiden title here, we saw Vettel, the champion, drenched in Champagne at the top of the podium on Sunday this year too.
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