user icon
icon
link-icon
<< Return to the news list
Rivals admit Vettel on cruise for fourth title in a row

Rivals admit Vettel on cruise for fourth title in a row

  • Published on 09 Sep 2013 08:35
  • comments 0
  • By: Rob Veenstra
As he reinforced his dominance on the season with a sixth win of 2013 on Sunday, Sebastian Vettel's rivals acknowledged at Monza the German is on course to be a four-time world champion. With seven races still to run this year, the Red Bull driver's closest challenger is Fernando Alonso -- and the Spaniard's deficit is 53 points.

That means that if the Red Bull simply comes second for the rest of the year, with Alonso's Ferrari managing an unlikely seven-race winning streak, Vettel will still be champion after November's Brazil finale. "I think we need to be realistic about the championship now -- there's a very big gap," Alonso said after finishing second in Italy.

"We don't have enough races (left) and probably we don't have the speed right now. We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian or something to win the championship," he added.

Lewis Hamilton is a further 28 points adrift, so he got out of his Mercedes on Sunday and admitted: "Obviously that's that for the championship." Later, after a shower and a team debrief, the Briton insisted he's actually not giving up. But even his boss Toto Wolff admitted to German reporters that continuing to charge for the title is now an "unrealistic" goal.

So with the title looking like a Vettel whitewash, the bigger talking point after the Italian grand prix was the behaviour of the Ferrari-loving 'tifosi'. They chanted, booed and whistled throughout the German national anthem, moving Vettel's teammate Mark Webber - hardly a big fan of the 26-year-old - to surmise that the atmosphere on the podium was "not completely correct".

But Vettel, despite earlier complaining about being booed at Silverstone, seemed less bothered. "I said on the radio on the in-lap that the more booing we get, the better we have done today. It's normal," he told reporters. "I don't blame the people to be honest, I think their love of Ferrari is in their genes."

As for his seemingly inevitable charge for a Michael Schumacher-esque fourth consecutive world championship, the German said he is not celebrating yet. "I don't go for predictions, I go for facts, and fact is that mathematically a number of scenarios are still possible," he told F1's official website. (GMM)
F1 News Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Mercedes

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2023

Pos
Team
Points
1
Red Bull Racing
822
2
Mercedes
392
3
Ferrari
390
4
McLaren
284
5
Aston Martin
272
6
Alpine F1
120
7
Williams
27
8
Alpha Tauri
21
9
Alfa Romeo Racing
16
10
Haas F1
12
Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
3 - Mar 5
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
31 - Apr 2
Australia
Albert Park
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
5 - May 7
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
19 - May 21
Italy
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
26 - May 28
Monaco
Monte Carlo
2 - Jun 4
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
16 - Jun 18
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
30 - Jul 2
Austria
Red Bull Ring
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom
Silverstone
21 - Jul 23
Hungary
Hungaroring
28 - Jul 30
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
1 - Sep 3
Italy
Monza
15 - Sep 17
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
22 - Sep 24
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
6 - Oct 8
Qatar
Losail International Circuit
20 - Oct 22
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
27 - Oct 29
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
3 - Nov 5
Brazil
Interlagos
17 - Nov 19
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit
3 - Mar 5
Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
31 - Apr 2
Australia Albert Park
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
5 - May 7
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
19 - May 21
Italy Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
26 - May 28
Monaco Monte Carlo
2 - Jun 4
Spain Circuit de Catalunya
16 - Jun 18
Canada Gilles Villeneuve
30 - Jul 2
Austria Red Bull Ring
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom Silverstone
21 - Jul 23
Hungary Hungaroring
28 - Jul 30
Belgium Spa-Francorchamps
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
1 - Sep 3
Italy Monza
15 - Sep 17
Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit
22 - Sep 24
Japan Circuit Suzuka
6 - Oct 8
Qatar Losail International Circuit
20 - Oct 22
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
27 - Oct 29
Mexico Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
3 - Nov 5
Brazil Interlagos
17 - Nov 19
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

ES Fernando Alonso 14
  • Country Spain
  • Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (42)
  • Place of b. Oviedo, Spain
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.71 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Ferrari
Ferrari
Show full profile
show sidebar