Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is on track for the second Formula 1 Championship of his very short career, securing victory yet again at this past weekend’s 2011 Formula 1 European Grand Prix. Additionally, the German youngster has set a new record for the first ever F1 driver to take out one of the top two podium spots for the first eight races of a season--and you can bet a whole lot more records will tumble as the year progresses.
Rival teams are likely to be writing off their chances for a Championship win so now the true battle is to see who will come in second.
Conditions in Valencia, Spain yesterday were near on perfect and at the start it looked like it could be anybody’s race, with Vettel, his Red Bull Racing team mate Mark Webber and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso all pushing hard. However, by the first pit stop Vettel already had a three second gap on second placed Webber, who himself was just ahead of Alonso.
In the end, Vettel passed the checkered flag with more than 10 seconds separating him from Alonso, who came in second. The Ferrari driver managed to pass Webber after a short battle, with the Australian’s RB7 race car having some issues though still managing to carry him to third spot on the podium.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished the race in fourth though was a massive 46.1 seconds off the pace of Vettel. Ferrari’s other driver, Felipe Massa, rounded out the top five.
With his latest win, the sixth from just eight starts, Sebastian Vettel leads the points table with a whopping 77 points gap over McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mark Webber who share second place with 109 points apiece.
Not surprisingly, Red Bull Racing is the clear leader in the Constructors’ Championship, with 295 points, followed by McLaren on 206 points and Ferrari on 129 points.
The Formula 1 circus now heads to the 2011 British Grand Prix, with racing set to kick off at the Silverstone circuit in the UK on July 10.
