The 2011 Formula One World Championship is over (well, as far as
the points are concerned). Sebastian Vettel officially owns the
accolade of being the youngest back-to-back World Championship in
the history of the sport, at the tender age of 24 years and 98
days. The young maestro, who has completely obliterated any hope of
competition, has firmly set up camp in the record books (seriously:
look up "youngest ever" for virtually any driver
record and you'll be greeted by his name). So now that we face the
last few races of the season, we're basically confronted with a bit
of a mullet season: all business up front and bringing the party up
at the tail-end.
With four fly-away races remaining in the season, we're in for a
treat. If last year's race is anything to go by, I suggest we all
condone morning drinking to steady our nerves in South Korea -
definitely one worth setting your alarm for (unless you have a
heart condition or nervous bladder. Then I would suggest just
catching the highlights). One I've been keenly awaiting follows
soon after: the new Indian Grand Prix. This race is drenched in
anticipation - not so much anticipation to see who wins, but
unfortunately more the anticipation to see if we even make our way
there (fingers are crossed though). The breath-taking twilight
spectacle of Abu Dhabi gifts us the penultimate race of the season
and we end our journey in the carnival atmosphere of the historic
Sao Paulo track in Brazil. The mix of old and new, fast and faster
in an array of climates offers a chance for those unceremoniously
dumped out of the championship fight to attempt to rack up one more
victory - an opportunity few of them would pass up.
While the driver's world championship is no longer up for grabs,
the much less coveted role of second place is still rather
undecided. With Button, Alonso, Webber and Hamilton all gunning for
runner-up, things are bound to get rather cosy on track. They will
all be aiming for at least one victory in the upcoming races - for
the sake of pride, if nothing more. While Vettel's absolutely
nailed the position of lead singer, there is still a gaping vacancy
for his back-up singer. With four men staking their claim to
doo-wop girl number one, this man will be remembered as the Keith
Richards to Vettel's Mick Jagger for 2011: you won't hear people
singing about him in 40 years time, but he will still be respected
as being one of the best at what he does.
Many people question if Sebastian Vettel is the true and
long-awaited heir to the Michael Schumacher legacy. Despite
Vettel's compelling statement this year, I don't think we can
answer that question just yet. Formula One fans are notoriously
affected by selective memory - we only remember what will show our
favourite driver up in the best light possible. The previous holder
of the accolade Vettel just claimed is still on the grid. When
Fernando Alonso won his second successive title for Renault in
2006, he was lauded from all sides as the second coming of a
motorsport god. He was the first driver to beat Schumacher in the
21stcentury and was deemed his heir apparent. Arguably
the most complete driver on the grid, he has demonstrated time and
time again why two titles at a young age still has not satisfied
his lust for victory; something Vettel could well demonstrate. But,
ultimately, correlating age and performance is completely
irrelevant in determining Schumacher's successor. One need only
glance at the history books (briefly) to realise that Schumacher
was never the youngest man to do anything Formula One-related; he
merely demonstrated an insatiable desire to be number one. In doing
so, he simply managed to do everything better than it had ever been
done before in a sport where the pursuit of excellence is
un-ending.
We may well be re-living this Schumi-esque period of utter
dominance and pursuit of victory through Vettel's driving, or we
may merely be in the midst of a period of one of many extremely
talented drivers on the grid experiencing a particularly good (but
comparatively short-lived) spell of brilliance. Vettel will
undoubtedly only get better over the coming seasons (which
genuinely sends a chill down my spine) and his performance over the
coming years will speak louder than any opinions ever could. Based
on that, 2012 could well be the year Vettel's performance sees him
claim one more accolade: a man deemed worthy of having his
performance discussed in the same breath as those of a motorsport
demi-god.