Sebastian Vettel F1 Profile & Career Stats

Sebastian Vettel Biography

Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Australian GP F1/2018

Four world championships. 53 race victories. 32 years of age. These stats are quite incredible and have been set by an incredible driver. Sebastian Vettel may split opinion but no one can deny he is, statistically, one of the greatest drivers of all time.

The German has benefited from having the best car on the grid, but now he needs to prove that he isn’t just a flat track bully. Taking Ferrari back to the top, would cement his status as a great.

Vettel is one of a number of young racing drivers inspired by the great Michael Schumacher, Vettel’s fellow German. And like the seven-time champion Vettel shares his ruthless personality, steely determination and above all, blistering speed.

Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) VS Fernando Alonso (McLaren)

His career threatened to mimic Michael’s, as he joined Ferrari in 2015 with the task of making them dominant once again, after a disappointing end to a brilliant time at Red Bull.

His first season in red was sensational. Three wins and 10 other podiums were the results of a driver back to his very best.

Vettel made his debut in 2007 with BMW Sauber, as a replacement for the injured Robert Kubica. He was 19 and managed to score a debut point.

Torro Rosso handed him a full-time drive the following season. The sister team to Red Bull presented the German with a chance to shine. And he did.

On a wet weekend in Monza, Italy he took pole position and then a comprehensive debut win, becoming the youngest driver in history to win a Grand Prix. The world took notice.

Sebastian Vettel's first F1 win was the 2008 Italian Grand Prix on Monza

Red Bull came calling the following 2009 F1 season and Vettel was thrust into a title battle. Jenson Button and Brawn F1 dominated the early stages but Vettel kept himself in contention with wins at the likes of China, Britain and Japan. He finished as runner-up and added a fourth victory of the year in Abu Dhabi.

The following year is fondly remembered as one of the sport’s best ever, as Vettel battled it out with team-mate Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Button and Lewis Hamilton in a title fight that went to the wire.

Vettel’s racing skills were questioned after incidents in Spa, Silverstone and Budapest,  but a blistering end to the season put him in with a chance in the finale at Abu Dhabi. A faultless drive and a portion of fortune saw him claim the world championship.

2011 was far easier, the Red Bull RB7 was the stand-out car and it saw Vettel win 11 races.  A second championship was easy.

Sebastian Vettel driving the Red Bull RB7 at Abu Dhabi (2011)

2012 saw the return of a couple of errors and slight frustration. The Red Bull was fast, but results were harder to come by.  But Vettel and car designer Adrian Newey pulled it together with a dominant finish to deny Fernando Alonso a third crown and his first driving for Ferrari.

In 2013 the Red Bull RB9 was the stand-out car again but his run of nine successive victories is remarkable and holds its own against any other record set in the sports long history. A fourth straight world crown was inevitable.

However, in 2014 the F1 regulations changed a lot and Renault didn't do their homework very well, causing the Red Bull RB10 to struggled a lot. Vettel was dominated, and not just by the all-conquering Mercedes W05 with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton as drivers.

Sebastian Vettel becomes 2012 F1 drivers Champion at Brazilian GP

His new team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, won three races in 2014 while Vettel won none. This didn't happen since 2008! The Australian driver also scored 238 points, to the German’s 167. Ferrari came calling towards the end of the season, and Vettel duly upped and left.

A new challenge revitalised him, and a 2015 fight with Hamilton was on the cards after winning the second race of the year at Sepang. Hamilton had another dominant year with the Mercedes, but Vettel's results and consistency kept him in second place of the title until the last three races. Rosberg overtook him for P2 in the standings after the title was already sealed.

2016 was a strange season for Vettel. The Ferrari SF16-H was not a bad car, but Mercedes was dominating. He didn't win a single race although he had a couple of chances to win, the strategy was not perfect. He did score seven podiums but no wins. He was getting very frustrated because of that and was talking a lot of bad language on the radio sometimes and showing his passion for Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel VS Lewis Hamilton Spanish GP F1 2017

In 2017 Sebastian Vettel got off with a dream start. He won in Australia, finished second in China, won again in Bahrain, finished 2nd in Russia & Spain and won again in Monaco. He already was dreaming of winning his 5th drivers' title when tensions got very high in Azerbaijan and he lost his mind during one of the safety cars periods.

Driving behind race leader Lewis Hamilton at the end of the safety car period the safety car disappeared and Hamilton was allowed to set the pace. He dropped his speed to crawling mode and Vettel thought he was brake testing him. Then he got mad, drove alongside Hamilton's Mercedes and ran into him. As by miracle they both had no damage of this unbelievable stupid reaction of Vettel. Later on, he said nothing happened and walked away.

The whole F1 world was waiting for a severe penalty by the FIA. After a few weeks, the FIA did not even penalise his outrages behaviour. Vettel did apologise for his mistake and that was it.

He lost the championship in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. In Singapore, he scored pole but crashed into Max Verstappen and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the start before spinning after the second corner. In Japan, he drove second when the Ferrari SF70H had some spark-plug problems that Vettel costed precious points and the championship aspirations. It's not that Vettel drove bad, but it's the unbelievable reliability of Mercedes and consistency of Lewis Hamilton that did the trick.

In 2018, he had another great first part of the year, after winning the first two races at Australia and Bahrain. Other wins at Canada and the British Grand Prix gave him the title lead with an eight-point gap to Hamilton. However, after a dream start of the weekend in his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim, when he qualified on Pole and Hamilton had reliability issues which made him start in 14th place, Vettel could not keep his hold to the championship lead after mixed conditions prompted a crash which ended his race with 16 laps to go. Vettel led most of the GP at Germany and his crash put him second in the WDC and 17 points behind his rival, who took the victory.

Then, Ferrari looked well on course to lock the front row at Budapest for the second year in a row, but heavy rain in Q3 push them backwards. Hamilton won the race from Pole and Vettel recovered from fourth to second. As the season continued, Vettel only won one more race,the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps— and had a second half of the year full of mistakes. The German champion finished in second place in the WDC with 320 points.

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel during the drivers press conference at Monza
(2019)

A new season in 2019 and a new teammate meant Vettel had a big challenge with Ferrari since Charles Leclerc was looked at by media and fans like a driver who was going to outperform Vettel in the same car. After a promising winter testing, things started badly for Ferrari. At Australia, they could not finish on the podium with any car, then, Vettel was leading the race at Bahrain in the early stages and got overtaken by his teammate, who was much faster in the weekend. Vettel, then, lost P2 to Hamilton after he spun off during their battle. The spin cost Vettel dearly, as Hamilton went on to win the race after Leclerc suffered reliability problems.

After Bahrain, Vettel scored consecutive podiums at China and Azerbaijan, then he finished fourth in Spain and second at Monaco. In Canada, the German started from pole and was leading the race before he made a mistake while battling with Hamilton for the lead and the weekend went downhill.

Vettel cut a chicane and, as he progressed into the track, he let no space for Hamilton. The stewards, in a highly controversial decision, gave him a five-second penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner, which took the win away from him.

Qualifying issues harmed his races at France and Austria, and at Silverstone, he was set to score a podium finish before he crashed into the rear of Verstappen's RB15 and finished in 16th place.

Consecutive podiums at Germany and Hungary meant he ended a difficult first half of 2019 with good results. Vettel had two difficult weekends to start the second half of 2019, with his younger teammate Leclerc winning at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza from Pole Position.

Sebastian Vettel celebrates on the podium with the trophy during the Singapore GP at Singapore Street Circuit on September 22, 2019. (Photo by Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images)

At Belgium, the team sacrificed his strategy to help Leclerc's chances to win the race, as Lewis Hamilton was pushing the Ferraris. Then, he qualified in fourth place in Italy after not receiving a tow from Leclerc in the last lap of Q3. Vettel showed some frustration on the team radio since he did help Leclerc in the first run of laps.

In the race, he spun his Ferrari in the early stages. Then, he returned to the track into the path of Lance Stroll's Racing Point and he received a ten-second stop-go penalty.

After the race at Italy, the championship travelled to Singapore to race under the lights in a circuit where Vettel had four victories and four Pole Positions, tied in both departments with Hamilton. It was the right place for a comeback.

Leclerc put his foot down again on Saturday and qualified on Pole while Vettel settled for third on the grid.

On race day, a great strategy from Ferrari turned a 1-3 in the early stages (with Leclerc ahead) into a 1-2 which was perfect for the team. Vettel's pace was very strong and he went on to win his 53rd career Grand Prix while Ferrari became the first team to secure a 1-2 under the lights of Singapore. The following week, at the 2019 Russian Grand Prix, Vettel qualified third behind his teammate Leclerc and Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel driving the Ferrari SF90, 2019 Russian F1 GP at Sochi
credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

At the start, the German overtook both cars and led the race for 25 laps, until he pitted. Ferrari ran into trouble in the early stages of the GP, when they asked Vettel to let Leclerc pass because they had an alleged agreement in which Leclerc would give a two to Vettel so he could overtake Hamilton.

Vettel asked the team to instruct Leclerc to get closer, but the Monegasque could not do it. The manoeuvre of letting Leclerc past was going to be a difficult one since Hamilton was close to Leclerc. Ferrari decided to pit Leclerc first and let Vettel out. When Vettel pitted, Leclerc was in front of him.

Vettel's race was over in lap 28 when the MGU-K on his Power Unit failed. The team instructed him to stop the car, which forced a Virtual Safety Car which ultimately cost Ferrari the lead of the race.

At the next race, the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Vettel scored the 57th Pole Position of his F1 career. Also, it was the fifth time the qualifying session was disputed on a Sunday, with the German champion achieving his third Sunday Pole Position. In the race, Vettel started badly with what seemed to be a jump start. The stewards determined Vettel's move was acceptable and he finished second after a great battle with Hamilton in the final laps.

In the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, Vettel started from second place and lost the position at the start. Then, after a Safety Car period, he was overtaken by his teammate into turn 1. In the same manoeuvre, he lined Leclerc up and tried to pass him in the Reta Oposta of Interlagos. As Leclerc covered the inside on the straight, Vettel took the outside but moved slightly into his teammate and both crashed out of the race.

In the final race of the year, at Abu Dhabi, Vettel finished in a quiet fifth place in a weekend he, logically, arrived late for due to the birth of his third child. He ended 2019 fifth in the WDC, behind his teammate, who led him in the main statistical categories (points, wins, podiums, and Pole Positions).

Before the weird 2020 F1 season started, Vettel's departure from Ferrari after the 2020 campaign was announced on May 12nd.

On September 10th, Racing point (renamed as Aston Martin for 2021) announced Vettel as Sergio Pérez replacement for the 2021 F1 season.

YAS MARINA CIRCUIT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 15: Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21 Mule during the Abu Dhabi November testing at Yas Marina Circuit on Wednesday December 15, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images)

After a tough start of 2020 for Ferrari, Vettel achieved a great podium in the wet 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, in front of his teammate Charles Leclerc. Still, Vettel's final season with Ferrari ended with only a 13th place in the World Drivers' Championship and with the German scoring points in only seven of his 17 starts.

Tough first season with Aston Martin, but another F1 season with a podium

In his first season with the Aston Martin team, Sebastian Vettel showed glimpses of his great driving, while having some other races in which he didn't really look fantastically. Still, he was the leader of the team in terms of performance and scored 43 points to finish 12th in the WDC, ahead of his teammate Lance Stroll, who was 13th with 34 points.

In the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, Vettel finished fifth and scored points for Aston Martin for the first time. He followed that effort with a second place in the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, extending his streak of seasons with at least one podium to 14 campaigns (since 2008).

Retirement in 2022

Hungaroring, F1, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22.

The German had a harsh start to the 2022 Formula 1 season with Aston Martin, although with a beautiful car.

Vettel scored points in five Grands Prix through the first half of the season. He also missed the first two races of the year due to a Covid-19 positive test.

On 28 July 2022, Vettel announced his plan to retire from the series at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship season.

In the second half of the 2022 F1 season, Vettel scored points for Aston Martin in Belgium, Singapore and Japan.

Vettel achieved the 218th finish in the points with a brilliant display of racing in the 2022 United States Grand Prix, with a solid P7. It was also the third consecutive race finished in the points for Vettel and Aston Martin in 2022.

Portrait, Finish, Yas Marina Circuit, GP2222a, F1, GP, UAE
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, waves to fans at the end of his final F1 race.

After failing to score in Mexico and Brazil, Vettel returned to the points with a 10th-place finish at Abu Dhabi, in the final race of his brilliant, championship-winning Formula 1 career.

His 37 points in 2022 put him 12th in the WDC and helped Aston Martin finish seventh in the World Constructors' Championship.

Vettel always gives his car female names. Here you can find the names he used for the cars he drove during his F1 career:

• 2008 - Toro Rosso STR3: Julie
• 2009 - Red Bull RB5: Kate (Kate's Dirty Sister)
• 2010 - Red Bull RB6: Luscious Liz, Randy Mandy
• 2011 - Red Bull RB7: Kinky Kylie
• 2012 - Red Bull RB8: Abbey
• 2013 - Red Bull RB9: Hungry Heidi
• 2014 - Red Bull RB10: Suzie
• 2015 - Ferrari SF15-T: Eva
• 2016 - Ferrari SF16-H: Margherita
• 2017 - Ferrari SF70H: Gina
• 2018 - Ferrari SF71H: Loria
• 2019 - Ferrari SF90: Lina

A list of some amazing Sebastian Vettel F1 records:

• Youngest driver to qualify pole position - 21 years 78 days (Sep 14th 2008 Italy)
• Youngest driver to win a Formula 1 drivers championship
• Youngest driver to win 2 Formula 1 drivers championships
• Youngest driver to win 3 Formula 1 drivers championships
• Youngest driver to win 3 Formula 1 drivers championships in a row

Sebastian Vettel Helmets

Sebastian Vettel F1 Cars

Sebastian Vettel Championship Results

4× World Championships2010–2013 · Red Bull

Four titles in four straight seasons.

• 33rd all-time for championships

• 2010Red Bull256 pts4 clear of Fernando Alonsosealed at 2010 Abu Dhabi F1 GP
• 2011Red Bull392 pts122 clear of Jenson Buttonsealed at 2011 Japanese F1 GP
• 2012Red Bull281 pts3 clear of Fernando Alonsosealed at 2012 Brazilian F1 GP
• 2013Red Bull397 pts155 clear of Fernando Alonsosealed at 2013 Indian F1 GP

Sebastian Vettel F1 Seasons Summary

Year	Team	Engine	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	Laps	FL	Avg Pts	Points
2022	Aston Martin	Mercedes	20	0	0	0	0	0	1102	0	1.85	37
2021	Aston Martin	Mercedes	22	0	1	0	1	0	1263	0	1.95	43
2020	Ferrari	Ferrari	17	0	0	1	1	0	914	0	1.94	33
2019	Ferrari	Ferrari	21	1	5	3	9	2	1178	2	11.43	240
2018	Ferrari	Ferrari	21	5	4	3	12	5	1248	3	15.24	320
2017	Ferrari	Ferrari	20	5	6	2	13	4	1089	5	15.85	317
2016	Ferrari	Ferrari	20	0	3	4	7	0	1057	3	10.60	212
2015	Ferrari	Ferrari	19	3	3	7	13	1	1127	1	14.63	278
2014	Red Bull	Renault	19	0	1	3	4	0	970	2	8.79	167
2013 🏆	Red Bull	Renault	19	13	1	2	16	9	1120	7	20.89	397
2012 🏆	Red Bull	Renault	20	5	3	2	10	6	1162	6	14.05	281
2011 🏆	Red Bull	Renault	19	11	5	1	17	15	1079	3	20.63	392
2010 🏆	Red Bull	Renault	19	5	2	3	10	10	1066	3	13.47	256
2009	Red Bull	Renault	17	4	2	2	8	4	847	3	4.94	84
2008	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	18	1	0	0	1	1	810	0	1.94	35
2007	BMW Sauber Toro Rosso	BMW Ferrari	8	0	0	0	0	0	395	0	0.75	6

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