Vettel clinches F1 championship at Japanese GP

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Vettel clinches F1 championship at Japanese GP

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Vettel became F-1 youngest back-to-back world champion when he finished third in the Japanese GP.

10 October,2011 03:57 am

Sebastian Vettel added his name to a select list on Sunday, finishing third at the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest of the nine drivers who have won consecutive Formula One titles.Jenson Button won the race on the Suzuka circuit for his third victory of the season, finishing 1.160 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso after starting on the front row alongside pole-sitter Vettel.Vettel needed just one point to wrap up the title or for Button to not win the race. The 15 points the German earned for third were more than enough to make him the sports youngest two-title winner at age 24.Weve had a long year, a fantastic year, Vettel said. Todays race was difficult. We werent as fast as we wanted to be on the soft tires and it was difficult as we lost two positions but it was a strong result today to win the championships and I want to thank the team.Vettel joins some of the greats of the sport in having won consecutive championships: Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and Alonso.The Germans voice cracked as he spoke over the radio to team boss Christian Horner on his way back to the pits after the race, but when he got there he was all smiles, running to the outside of the pit wall where he was mobbed by his team in jubilant celebrations.Vettel briefly challenged Alonso for second with 10 laps to go, but didnt want to take any risks knowing he had the championship wrapped up with a third-place finish. He finished 2.006 seconds behind Button.At the start of the race Vettel and Button nearly collided on the run to the first corner. Vettel got a slightly tardy start and cut hard to his right to block Button, who was forced to slow and put wheels on the grass to avoid contact.Button could be heard over his team radio saying Hes (Vettel) got to get a penalty for that, but stewards reviewed the video and elected not to punish the Red Bull driver.After the race, as the top three drivers prepared to walk out on the podium, Button asked Vettel, didnt you see me at the start? Vettel said he was within his rights to defend his position because he was ahead, not beside Button.Vettel said he had no intention of putting Button in danger.Obviously, as I said, I didnt want to put him in danger, Vettel said. But I think we have to race each other hard.Vettel held the lead until the second round of pit stops after lap 20 when Button got out ahead, and led Vettel, Alonso and Webber for rest of the race.