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At 18, most teenagers in our country would be doing the rounds of our local Road Transport Office (RTO) to convince the officers of their driving skills to get a license. Hopefully, minus any bribe.
Meet Sebastian Vettel. At 18, this teen was burning the road competing against some of the fastest cars in the business. At 18, he had already begun impressing F1 fans and experts alike with his speed and technique. At 18, he knew he was just round the corner of his eventual destiny to be a full-time F1 driver.
Jump to F1
With that kind of talent, it wouldn't take long for him to make his debut. A year after his first practice sessions in an F1 car with BMW Sauber, he was on the grid awaiting the three red lights to go off. As if to prove the 'fastest timing' during practice session he had set a year ago at Hungary wasn't a fluke, at 19 years and 349 days, Vettel became the youngest driver to ever score a point in F1 finishing a creditable eighth.Other teams on the track started to take notice of this emerging talent. Not so much for the fact that he scored a point, but for the ease with which he made the F1 car cockpit his home on his debut.
A settled team
And that team was Red Bull's Scuderia Torro Rosso. They signed Vettel from the Hungarian GP for the reminder of the 2007 season. After a slow start with his new team, Vettel found his groove. The German sped past his much fancied opponents in a below-average car to be third in the Japanese GP - a race where visibility seemed a luxury because of heavy rains. This dream drive, however, was short-lived. On a lap following the safety car, Vettel crashed into second-placed Australian Mark Webber throwing them both out of the race, prompting the latter to call the young German "a kid", followed by a few choice words not fit for publication. Two seasons down the line, Webber would be Vettel's teammate at Red Bull Racing.As if to show-off his mental toughness, Vettel bounced back to finish 4th in the Chinese GP - Torro Rosso's and Vettel's best result. One could sense that the best was yet to come. If you can drive a below-average car from 17th on the grid to 4th, you've got to be special. And special Sebastian was!
However, there was a fear of being counted among the 'lost talent', justifiably so, when Vettel had the worst possible start to his 2008 season! With a 'DNF' (Did Not Finish) against his name in the first three races, he had to dig deep. And he did so in with some panache. Monaco, albeit an attractive F1 street circuit, is considered among the toughest and an 'ultimate test of driving skills'. Overtaking on this narrow track is not everyone's cup of tea, with tight corners and many elevation shifts. Vettel finished 5th after starting 17th on the grid, a perfect showcase of his skill on a circuit that showcased a driver's ability than the power of his car!
He didn't have to wait too long to be on the podium. Previous year's Japanese GP had shown a glimpse of his comfort driving in wet conditions. And when it rained in Italy on race weekend, it was almost as if the podium came calling! Vettel became the youngest driver at a little over 21 years to win an F1 Grand Prix. None would have been more delighted than his struggling Torro Rosso team prompting boss Gerhard Berger to predict that Vettel will soon "win world championships."
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