Vettel storms to fourth championship win at Indian Grand Prix

For the fourth year in a row, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has won the Formula 1 world championship. And not for the first time, it was a stunning drive that ensured that he would retain the title.

At the outset of Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso would have needed to finish first or second to delay Vettel’s title win. As it was, the Spanish double world champion could only manage 11^th, after sustaining damage on the opening lap due to comings together with the Red Bull of Mark Webber and the McLaren of Jenson Button.

That forced the Spaniard into the pit for a new nose cone and a change of tires. Despite the attempt to patch up the damage, Alonso complained of the poor handling of his Ferrari throughout the rest of the race, as he fought his way up through the field.

Vettel, meanwhile, had started the race on the soft tire, which was prone to high degradation at the Buddh circuit. As such, he dived into the pits at the end of just the second lap, taking on a set of the medium-compound tires. He quickly moved up from 18^th place to fifth, thanks to the pit stops of other drivers and a number of overtakes. By lap 28 of the 60-lap race Vettel had moved into first place, which he held until he took the checkered flag.

Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber, meanwhile, was forced to retire from the race due to a gearbox problem. That left the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg to cross the line in second place and the Lotus of Romain Grosjean to come home third.

An ecstatic Vettel completed his warm-down lap by stopping on the start-finish straight, where he treated the Indian crowd to some donuts, the smoke pouring out from his tires as he spun the car in a tight circle. He then got out from behind the wheel and bowed down before his Red Bull, a reminder of the domination of the Adrian Newey-designed car these last four years.

Speaking from the podium, Vettel said that his win had left him dumbstruck. “I’m speechless,” he said. “I crossed the line and I was empty. I took ages to think of something to say, and it's one of those moments you wish to say so many things but you can’t.”

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was left to rue his difficult day on the track. “Obviously it was not a clean start," said Alonso. "I was a bit unlucky because I think Mark was also having contact with someone and the third part of that equation was me. And I had a battle in corner four as well. The race was uphill from that moment as we were last with one stop already done. It was damaged in the front because the steering was very heavy in the right corners and very light to the left."

The Spanish driver, who won the 2005 and 2006 world championships, had words of congratulation for Vettel and for Red Bull, who have won this year’s constructors’ championship. “They've been very strong, very dominant, especially in the second half of the season, so they deserve to be champions. We need to start thinking for next year and try to make things more difficult for him.”

With three races left to run, Ferrari is currently four points behind Mercedes in the battle for second place in the constructors' standings.