First, the facts. Sebastian Vettel became the youngest triple World Champion by finishing sixth in the Brazilian Grand Prix, his rival Fernando Alonso doing all he could by taking second. But those bare details do not begin to make start on telling the story of a truly extraordinary final race of an equally extraordinary season.
How about a few more facts such as Vettel being hit twice at the fourth corner and spinning to the back of the field. Then it drizzled, dried out – and then rained. Then Vettel’s radio didn’t work. A pit stop (one of four) found the Red Bull team unready as he dived into the pits for wet weather tyres. Having been in and out of the points, Vettel found himself seventh. Then sixth. Just enough to allow him to win the title by three points. A race of 71 laps seemed twice that length as every driver, every team, every spectator was wrung dry of emotion.
Adrian Newey, mastermind behind the Red Bull RB8, could barely speak as he tried to recall the previous two hours and 30 minutes. “I saw Seb pointing the wrong way and the whole field passing him on the first lap, then I saw the damage and, quite honestly, I thought it was all over,” said Newey.
Just for good measure, Newey also saw Alonso chose that very moment to pull off a stunning pass, take two cars at once and move into third – exactly where he needed to be if Vettel was out and the title was to go to Ferrari. But this race was not over; not by any means.
By lap seven, Vettel was eighth! Newey, meanwhile, had got a photograph of the side of Vettel’s car. It showed damage to the rear of the left sidepod and floor. And, more worryingly, an exhaust pipe was bent. They would be lucky to see the finish. There was only one thing to do and that was press on.
Alonso felt exactly the same as the track became treacherous through light rain, two pit stops following within the next ten laps, at the end of which he was fourth. Close, but not close enough. Anything could happen, particularly at the front. Ah yes, good point: who was leading this race?
The McLarens, starting from the front row with Lewis Hamilton leading from pole, had Nico Hulkenberg chasing them hard. Hamilton stopped for wets on lap 10 but his teammate and the Force India stayed out, a move which paid off as the drivers who had stopped for wets came back in again for slicks, leaving Hulkenberg, who had overtaken Button, a massive 47 seconds clear of third place.
That was to shrink to nothing on lap 23 when the Safety Car appeared to allow the clearance of debris from several incidents, Button and Hulkenberg taking the opportunity to change tyres without losing the lead.
By now, Hamilton was on a charge, taking the lead from Hulkenberg on lap 48 when the Force India driver had a half-spin. The track, previously drying out, became greasy as spots of rain returned. Hulkenberg attacked once more but a brave attempt to take the lead ended in disaster when he got out of shape and smacked into the McLaren as they braked for Turn 1 on lap 55. That put Button back in front.
Felipe Massa, having another excellent weekend, was second but let Alonso take the place – as you would expect with so much at stake. And that could have been the championship because Vettel had lost ground when he came into the pits for wets – and the team, not having heard his radio call, were not ready. Back he went to seventh, only to return to sixth when Michael Schumacher did the gentlemanly thing on his last F1 race by letting his compatriot through.
The entire pit lane was on a knife edge as the conditions got worse. There were bound to be further casualties – and Paul di Resta was the next when he crashed heavily with two laps to go. The Force India driver was unhurt but the incident was enough to bring out the Safety Car once more. All Vettel had to do was pussyfoot home in the train of cars, still led by Button. The Red Bull team did not say a word, showed absolutely no emotion, until car Number 1 crossed the line for the 71st and final time. Then the place erupted.
What a race! What a season!
Standings
Driver’s championship
1. Sebastian Vettel – 281 points
2. Fernando Alonso – 278
3. Kimi Räikkönen – 207
4. Lewis Hamilton – 190
5. Jenson Button – 188
6. Mark Webber – 179
7. Felipe Massa – 122
8. Romain Grosjean – 96
Constructors championship
1. Red Bull-Renault – 460 points
2. Ferrari – 400
3. McLaren-Mercedes – 378
4. Lotus-Renault – 303
5. Mercedes – 142
6. Sauber-Ferrari – 126
7. Force India-Mercedes – 109
8. Williams-Renault – 76
