Formula 1, Sebastian Vettel bids farewell: Decoding his career stats
Formula 1 star Sebastian Vettel drove his last race at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. Racing for Aston Martin, the German took 10th place. 2022 Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen won the race ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and fellow team-mate Sergio Perez. Vettel had earlier announced that this season will be his last. Here we present his career stats.
Vettel signs off with 37 points in 2022
Vettel finished the 2022 season with a total of 37 points. He finished 10 times amongst the points. Vettel's top 10 finishes this year came at the Emilia Romagna GP (8th), Monaco GP (10th), Azerbaijan GP (6th), British GP (9th), Hungarian GP (10th), Belgian GP (8th), Italian GP (8th), Singapore GP (6th), USA GP (8th), and the Abu Dhabi GP (10th).
Signed off!
Only two podium finishes across last 3 seasons
Vettel finished 12th in 2022. Last season, he ended with 43 points, finishing 12th as well. Both these seasons saw him race for Aston Martin. Notably, Vettel managed just two podium finishes across the last three seasons. In 2020, he raced for Ferrari, finishing 13th.
Vettel owns these records in F1
Vettel finished with 53 race wins. He is only behind Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91) in terms of wins. Vettel also shares the record of clocking the joint second-most race wins in a calendar year with Schumacher (13). Vettel won 13 out of the 19 races in 2013 with Red Bull. Schumacher won 13 races out of 18 with Ferrari in 2004.
Vettel owns the record of most consecutive wins
Vettel owns the record of clocking most consecutive race wins. He won nine successive races in 2013 with Red Bull. The wins came in Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan, India, Abu Dhabi, United States, and Brazil. Alberto Ascari won 7 consecutive races between 1952-53. Michael Schumacher did it in 2004 and Nico Rosberg followed suit in 2015-16 with Mercedes.
Second-youngest race winner in F1
Vettel also held the record as the youngest F1 winner at 21 years and 73 days when he emerged victorious at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. The record was eclipsed by Max Verstappen, who won the 2016 Spanish GP at 18 years and 228 days.
Fourth-highest number of pole positions
Vettel is ranked fourth in terms of securing the most pole positions in F1 with 57. Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has the most pole positions (103). He is followed by Schumacher (68), and Ayrton Senna (65). Vettel has the second-highest number in terms of consecutive pole positions at the Japanese Grand Prix (4). He is only behind Schumacher (5).
Third-highest number of podium finishes
Vettel is ranked third in terms of most podium finishes (122). He is only behind Hamilton (191) and Schumacher (155). Vettel has the joint-second highest podium finishes in a single year (17 in 2011). He ranks fourth in terms of most consecutive podiums (11) after Schumacher (19), Hamilton (16), and Fernando Alonso (15). He is the 4th-youngest to score a podium finish.
Notable feats attained by Vettel
Vettel holds the record for most pole positions in a season (15 in 2011). He is still the youngest polesitter, aged 21 years and 72 days (2008 Italian GP). Vettel has clocked 38 fastest laps which is the fifth-highest after Schumacher (77), Hamilton (61), Kimi Raikkonen (46), and Alain Prost (41). He is the 8th-youngest to set the fastest lap (21 years, 353 days).
Vettel has attained these crunch feats as well
In 2013, Vettel clocked 397 points to win the title. It's the 4th-highest in terms of most championship points in a season after Verstappen in 2022 and Hamilton (2018-2019). Vettel has finished 253 career races (fourth-highest). He has 31 wins from pole positions (3rd-highest). He shares the record with Nigel Mansell in terms of most wins from pole positions in a season (9).
Four F1 title wins for Vettel
Vettel won four Formula 1 titles between 2010 to 2013. He shares the record of four titles won alongside Prost, who won in 1985, 1986, 1989, and 1993. Schumacher and Hamilton have seven titles each. Juan Manuel Fangio has five titles. At 23 years and 134 days, Vettel is still the youngest World Drivers' Championship first-time winner.
