Interlagos, 2006. When Michael Schumacher climbed out of his
Ferrari 248 F1 after a gruelling battle to fourth place, the
paddock assumed they'd witnessed the thrilling final chapter in an
F1 career that had redefined the meaning of success. And while that
assumption proved to be incorrect with the German's return to the
sport more than three years later, that didn't prevent the
motorsport community searching for a new man to step into the shoes
of a legend.
The primary candidate was Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard had
faced up to Schumacher's challenge and stolen two world
championships on his watch - not only was he a match for the
Ferrari driver, but at the age of twenty five he seemed poised to
add to his tally in the very near future with a lucrative contract
at McLaren. But F1′s new messiah, for whatever reason, has failed
to capitalise on the absence of his former foe - and five seasons
later he continues in his quest for a third title at the wheel of a
Ferrari, the team that made the Schumacher name globally iconic.
And while Alonso could easily add to his reputation in the future,
his charge has been halted by a second German who arrived on the
scene some nine months after Schumi's name was initially consigned
to history.
The parellels are there. Like Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel was
called in as a substitute mid-season - and both qualified seventh
at their respective first attempts. They both took a debut win in
wet conditions in their first full season. And then, in their
fourth career campaigns, they both secured a maiden world title in
the final round. But as an individual, the younger man has arguably
outshone his childhood hero, who he first met at the age of eight -
Sebastian a junior karter, Michael already Germany's first F1
champion.
Just three races into the 2011 F1 season, Sebastian Vettel is
demonstrating his incredible skill on a fortnightly basis. Three
poles, two wins and a runner up spot mean he's produced a healthy
lead of 21 points - the better part of a race win - over Lewis
Hamilton, the man who held the title of youngest champion ever
until rudely awakened by Vettel's extraordinary success. We all
knew Sebastian would be confident this year following his last-gasp
challenge for the 2010 World Championship, but nobody anticipated
the untouchability he seems to have developed over the winter. He
has won five of the last seven races, but it could so easily have
been all of them - prevented only by engine failure in the dying
stages in Korea, and Hamilton's three stop wizardry last time out
in China. If both races had been five laps shorter, we would be
contemplating the joint longest winning streak in the history of
the sport. In addition, the Red Bull star took more than half of
the pole positions on offer last season, and this year three events
have produced three pole positions - adding to Vettel's strike
rate, which already stands at an impressive 26%.
What really defines Vettel is his status as the youngest world
champion ever, something he achieved at the age of 23 years, 4
months. At the same age, Hamilton was yet to taste a single
victory. Jenson Button hadn't even stood on the rostrum. Fangio's
racing debut hadn't even occurred. Of the current crop, only the
likes of Jaime Alguersuari and Sergio Perez can take this record
from him - and given the relative strengths and weaknesses of the
Toro Rosso and Sauber, it seems unlikely. In comparison to
Schumacher, the statistics would appear to point in Vettel's favour
- Red Bull's star has achieved a championship and twelve wins at
the same age as Schumi when the seven times world champion was
still looking for a breakthrough victory, which came in the 1992
Belgian GP. And now, having achieved stunning feats at such a young
age, Helmut Marko's prodigy shows no sign of letting up - at every
race he is the main suspect for the top spot, and as McLaren found
out in China, you have to do something pretty special to get ahead.
We have not seen this sort of domination for years.
Vettel's path to Formula 1 was conventional, and not overly
spectacular. Beginning an open-wheeled career in 2003 (as
Schumacher sailed to a sixth title), Seb made his way to the
Formula BMW title. Over the next few years he juggled F3 and
Formula Renault without major success, in between the odd F1 test
drive - Williams giving him a taste of the sport five years before
he rose to the very top. It was in 2008 that his star really began
to rise - a debut pole position and win at Monza left people in no
doubt to his skills, and it was on the rostrum that we first saw
his single fingered salute to the world. Having given Toro Rosso
their maiden success he transferred to Red Bull at just the right
time, as they presented the only real threat to Brawn GP. He stole
the team's first glory in the third round in China, much to the
chagrin of long suffering team-mate Mark Webber. Even he couldn't
overcome Button this time, despite taking his challenge to the
penultimate round in Brazil. But in 2010, there was no stopping him
- brushing off technical failures and Martin Whitmarsh's "crash
kid" label, he won it in Abu Dhabi, having never previously led the
standings.
What does the future hold? Unsurprisingly, he's spoiled for
choice. Red Bull have him signed up until 2014, but performance
related clauses could see him leave at any time if he's
dissatisfied - who would bet against him making his way to Ferrari
in the future, or lining up alongside Lewis Hamilton at McLaren? Or
maybe he could replace Schumacher at Mercedes when the former
champion finally packs it all in. One thing is for sure - he's
outshone every star at this early stage in this career, racing
wheel to wheel with the likes of Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton
and winning. Still yet to celebrate his 24th birthday, there's a
long way to go in this tale and his pace suggests that a second era
of Schumacheresque dominance could be in store. The years since the
end of the Schumacher/Ferrari partnership have seen the ultimate
motorsport accolade enter new hands on four consecutive occasions.
In the race to give it a permanent home, Vettel once again has pole
position.