Sebastian Vettel aims to stretch winning streak

This year’s car is not perfectly suited for Korean GP, says Red Bull driver.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel will be looking to extend his winning streak to four at this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix, after already leading the table with a 60-point margin. PHOTO: AFP

YEONGAM:
Runaway leader Sebastian Vettel can put one hand on the Formula One world title this week as he aims to stretch his astonishing winning streak to four races at the Korean Grand Prix.

Last month in Singapore, the brilliant young German left other drivers in his wake to move 60 points clear of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and ever closer to a historic fourth straight championship.

With six races left, a wipeout from his rivals would leave Vettel capable of being crowned world champion next week in Japan, a triumph that would catapult him among the sport’s greats.

Victory this year would make Vettel, 26, the youngest man to win four in a row, trumping Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio. Alain Prost is the only other man to win four or more titles.

Vettel’s consecutive wins in Belgium, Italy and Singapore have not been universally popular and he has been booed on the podium by a section of disgruntled fans.

The German, with seven wins in 13 grands prix this year, is also on a hat-trick in South Korea after winning the last two races at the Korean International Circuit in the country’s rural south.

We often lack in top speed there: Vettel


However, in what could provide a glimmer of hope for his rivals, Vettel admits the Yeongam layout is not perfectly suited to this year’s Red Bull car, the RB9.

“The track in Korea has a bit of an unusual layout,” said Vettel. “The long straights all come right at the beginning and the turns are at the end.

“I love the curvy part because it is a lot more fun, whereas the straight lines and sharp turns can be a little boring. They are also our weakness because we often lack in top speed there.”

Alonso is the only man with a realistic chance of reeling in Vettel, although Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg are mathematically still in the hunt.

Webber will be hampered by a 10-place grid penalty for his third reprimand of the year after he abandoned his Red Bull and hitched a ride on Alonso’s Ferrari following the race in Singapore.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd,  2013.

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