page_title: Sebastian Vettel
section_title: 2009–2010: Championship runner-up and youngest world champion
hierarchical_section_title: Sebastian Vettel / Formula One career / Red Bull / 2009–2010: Championship runner-up and youngest world champion
caption_attribution_description: Formula One 2009 Rd.15 Japanese GP: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) won the race.
context_page_description: Sebastian Vettel is a German racing driver who races in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He is a four-time Formula One World Champion, having won consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013 with Red Bull Racing, and is regarded by many as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport, and by some the greatest ever. In addition to holding a number of 'youngest' records in Formula One, Vettel holds the record for the most consecutive race wins, as well as accumulating the third most race victories, podium finishes and the fourth most pole positions.
  Vettel started his Formula One career as a test driver for BMW Sauber in 2006 and made his racing debut with the team at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, replacing the injured Robert Kubica. Already part of the Red Bull programme, he joined Toro Rosso later in the season, and was kept as a driver for 2008. In his first full season in Formula One, he became the then-youngest pole-sitter and race winner at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Vettel was promoted to Red Bull for the 2009 season, and became the youngest driver in history to win the World Drivers' Championship in 2010.
context_section_description: At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced the retired David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing. He began strongly at the Australian Grand Prix, running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place in the latter stages forced both to retire. He went on to take pole position and the race win at Chinese Grand Prix; Red Bull Racing's maiden pole and win. At the age of 21 years and 287 days, Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix driver in history to win for two different teams.
  Further wins followed in Great Britain, Japan and Abu Dhabi. He won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position, leading every lap. Vettel won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the first ever day-night race, to finish second in the World Drivers' Championship standings behind Jenson Button. He also scored his third fastest lap of the year, drawing him level with teammate Mark Webber. However, as Vettel had more second fastest laps, he won the 2009 DHL Fastest Lap Award.
  Vettel took the first pole position of the 2010 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He led most of the race but as a result of a spark plug failure, Vettel finished in fourth place. At the Australian Grand Prix, Vettel was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He took his first win of the season in Malaysia.
  In Monaco, Vettel made it a Red Bull 1–2 with him second and Webber first. Both were equal on points in the standings, with Webber first based on total wins. At the Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel was running second behind Webber when he made a passing move on his teammate. The two collided, putting Vettel out of the race, with neither driver accepting responsibility for the collision.
  At the British Grand Prix, both Vettel and Webber's cars were fitted with a new front wing design. Vettel's wing was damaged in the third practice session, and Webber's sole surviving example was removed and given to his teammate. Vettel qualified in first place, but suffered a puncture. He finished seventh while Webber took the victory. In Japan, he qualified on pole ahead of Webber and went on to win with a lights-to-flag victory. Aged 23 years and 98 days, Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix driver to win at the same track on two occasions. At the inaugural Korean Grand Prix, Vettel led the first 45 laps before retiring with engine failure, handing victory to championship rival Fernando Alonso.
  With the 1–2 finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Vettel and Webber secured Red Bull Racing's first World Constructors' Championship. Vettel went into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi with a 15-point deficit to Alonso and a 7-point gap to Webber. He won the Grand Prix from pole to become the youngest World Drivers' Champion in the sport's history, as Alonso only finished in seventh place. Following John Surtees in the 1964 season and James Hunt in 1976, this was the third time in Formula One history that the title winner had not topped the championship table until after the last race.
caption: Vettel after winning the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix
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