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)
Rivals admit Vettel on cruise for fourth title in a row
- Published on 09 Sep 2013 08:35
-
0
- By: Rob Veenstra
.
Trending news
-
Why Verstappen's rare Zandvoort mistake shocked Timo GlockMax Verstappen's heavy crash at the Dutch Grand Prix left Timo Glock relieved the Red Bull driver escaped unscath...
26 Aug 2026 17:04 -
Max Verstappen's wildest racing challenge yet revealedMax Verstappen will return to karting next month in a format never seen before. The Red Bull Racing driver will face ...
26 Aug 2026 16:02 -
Why Verstappen's rare Zandvoort error stunned his ex-Red Bull mechanicMax Verstappen's heavy first-lap crash at Zandvoort has left those closest to him visibly shaken, with former Red...
26 Aug 2026 15:00 -
New F1 circuit sees nineteen red flags in single day of testingFormula 3's first proper test at Madrid's new street circuit descended into chaos this week, with nineteen re...
26 Aug 2026 13:58 -
Why McLaren is ready to hand Norris a contract beyond 2030Lando Norris is expected to become the latest driver to commit his long-term future to a single team, with McLaren pr...
26 Aug 2026 12:57
Dutch Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Dutch Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
-
Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
-
-
-
Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
-
-
-
Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
-
-
-
Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
-
-
-
Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
-
-
-
Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
-
-
-
Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
-
-
Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
-
-
Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
-
-
World Championship standings 2026
Pos
Driver
Team
Points
Pos
Team
Points
Related news
Give your opinion!
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team Aston Martin
- Points 631
- Podiums 9
- Grand Prix 204
- Country ES
- Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (45)
- Place of b. Oviedo, ES
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.71 m
- 188,072 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Fernando Alonso
Team profile
- Team name Mercedes
- Base Brackley, Germany
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Nico Rosberg 4
- Nico Rosberg 6
- Michael Schumacher 7
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 9
- Lewis Hamilton 10
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli 12
- Lewis Hamilton 44
- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- 638,743 comments on Mercedes
- 59 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Mercedes
Replies (0)
Login to reply