Vettel clinches second F1 championship in Japan
2011 Japanese Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Suzuka, 2011
Sebastian Vettel has won the F1 drivers championship for the second year in a row.
Third place in the Japanese Grand Prix confirmed Vettel as the champion with four races to spare.
Vettel’s achievement, at the age of 24 years and 98 days, makes him the youngest driver to win two world championships.
He is the first driver to win back-to-back championships since Fernando Alonso in 2006.
See the current points standings in full here:
F1 world champions by country
Vettel’s win means more championships have now been won from drivers from Germany than any other nation besides Great Britain.
Whereas ten different British drivers have claimed the crown the nine championships won by German drivers belong to Vettel and Michael Schumacher – and all were won in the last 17 years.
| Country | No. | Drivers/s | |
| 1 | Britain | 14 | Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill (2), Jim Clark (2), John Surtees, Jackie Stewart (3), James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button |
| 2 | Germany | 9 | Michael Schumacher (7), Sebastian Vettel (2) |
| 3 | Brazil | 8 | Emerson Fittipaldi (2), Nelson Piquet (3), Ayrton Senna (3) |
| 4 | Argentina | 5 | Juan Manuel Fangio |
| 5 | Australia | 4 | Jack Brabham (3), Alan Jones |
| 5 | Austria | 4 | Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda (3) |
| 5 | France | 4 | Alain Prost |
| 5 | Finland | 4 | Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen (2), Kimi Räikkönen |
| 9 | Italy | 3 | Giuseppi Farina, Alberto Ascari (2) |
| 10 | United States | 2 | Phil Hill, Mario Andretti |
| 10 | Spain | 2 | Fernando Alonso |
| 12 | New Zealand | 1 | Denny Hulme |
| 12 | South Africa | 1 | Jody Scheckter |
| 12 | Canada | 1 | Jacques Villeneuve |
2011 Japanese Grand Prix
- Rate the race result: 2011 Japanese GP
- Kobayashi greets the fans, Vettel does doughnuts: Suzuka videos
- Hamilton did not have a puncture at Suzuka
- 2011 Japanese Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Vote for your Japanese Grand Prix driver of the weekend
- Red Bull: Conservative approach delivers Vettel’s title
- McLaren: Button pleased to win on ‘Red Bull track’
- Ferrari: Alonso edges Vettel for second
- Mercedes: Schumacher closes on Rosberg’s tally
- Renault: Petrov makes progress, Senna slips back
Image © Red Bull/Getty images
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey) said on 9th October 2011, 9:35
Absolutely outstanding performance this season. Double World Champion at 24.
He is surely now the undisputed Number 1 driver in Formula 1, bar none.
Mike (@mike) said on 9th October 2011, 9:51
I’m not so sure yet, I think if you put say, Alonso in that Red Bull instead of Vettel the gap to 2nd wouldn’t be any less.
But he’s close to it for sure.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 9th October 2011, 10:02
@Mike @Magnificent-Geoffrey I’m gonna agree with Mag on this one. Without a doubt the world number 1 in every sense.
While it would always be interesting to see drivers swapping cars, I don’t think it’s fair to assume any one driver could do a better job than Vettel. Vettel has a talent which the car has been designed around. It’s set-up specifically for him. Being that in tune with your machine is a talent that should be recognised more often.
marmad said on 9th October 2011, 22:16
First of all, congrats to Vettel. Outstanding performance for sure. About the undisputed Number 1 driver in Formula 1…maybe the question should not be: What would have Alonso done with this Red Bull? maybe the question should be: What would have Vettel done with this Ferrari? would he have performed better than Alonso? I doubt it
Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 10th October 2011, 20:02
But would Alonso have done better than Vettel in the Red Bull? I doubt that too.
ob1kenobi.23 (@ob1kenobi23) said on 11th October 2011, 2:14
How would Seb have done in the McLaren, I think he could have won it.
Jonathan189 (@jonathan189) said on 9th October 2011, 9:35
Two down, six to go…
Mike (@mike) said on 9th October 2011, 9:43
Congrats to the new champion! And he’s still the 5th youngest driver! Absolute madness. O.o
Lets see if the can make him work for his next one.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 9th October 2011, 9:57
Well done to Sebastian Vettel. He has absolutely deserved every last drop of success this year.
Frans (@frans) said on 9th October 2011, 10:13
Usually when I see the headline, I can at least see the winner of the race. Right now, the winner of the race doesn’t get any mention anywhere in the article. I need to actually see the GP result know the winner.
Congrats to Vettel, but don’t forget the race winner next time :)
glue (@glue) said on 9th October 2011, 10:16
this is not the race report
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 9th October 2011, 10:20
@frans The race review is here:
Button holds back Alonso and Vettel for Japanese Grand Prix win
You can tell this isn’t the race review because it doesn’t say “2011 Japanese GP review” on it.
Frans (@frans) said on 9th October 2011, 11:08
I know that this isn’t a review. But I would like the review to be up first and this article 2nd. It’s strange to go to F1 Fanatic and reading this article first. It felt like something was missing.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 9th October 2011, 11:19
@frans
The I’ve no idea what you’re complaining about. The review is never up as soon after a race as this article was, it takes time to check it and write it.
Frans (@frans) said on 9th October 2011, 16:01
This is probably just my stupidity… When I read this article and came across the third place in Japanese GP, I immediately try to find an article about why he only finished in third. I couldn’t find it at that time thus the comment. It was definitely a strange moment for me when I tried to click the links at the bottom of the article and find nothing. This wouldn’t have happened if I watch the race live though. I just need a bit more patience in waiting for the review.
Thanks for compiling the data… Never knew that Britain have a lot of F1 winners and Germany only have 2 winners.
f199player (@f199player) said on 9th October 2011, 10:53
Whether you love him or hate him, you’ve got to respect him, he dominated this year.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 9th October 2011, 15:32
@f199player I think that anyone who ‘hates’ him would have a difficult time justifying so. He’s kept his head down at the front. He’s not wiped anyone out to claim any victory. He’s an approachable character and a great guy.
Mgn said on 9th October 2011, 11:18
Congrats Sebastian Vettel Youngest Double World Champion
sharmin. (@spartle) said on 9th October 2011, 11:19
Pretty epic. I would have loved it if he won the race to clinch the title but a podium isn’t exactly a bad way to win either. To think that this is his 2nd worst result of the season is mad!
Hope he actually has a car that isn’t as dominant as it has been in the last two years next season. I have to say that this wasn’t nearly as exciting as Abu Dhabi. Though, I have a feeling that Red Bull won’t be producing anything short of a brilliant car next season, let’s just hope that McLaren and Ferrari can actually keep up this time!
Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 9th October 2011, 11:20
Vettel has simply been the master this season. Astounding race pace, phenomenal consistency, near unbeatable one lap pace (only Senna, Fangio, Ascari and Clark have better pole ratios). As Brundle said, he’s been in a class of one.
Journeyer (@journeyer) said on 9th October 2011, 12:32
At the end of 1993, Britain had 11 titles, Brazil 8, Argentina 5, and Germany a whopping 0.
18 years later, Britain is still ahead on 14, but Germany has leapt past the rest on 9. That’s 9 of 18 for Germany to be exact, a strike rate of 50%. It’s an amazing statistic, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Brits went 9 of 15 from 1962-1976.
That is quite the achievement for Messrs. Schumacher and Vettel.
GeorgeK said on 9th October 2011, 13:24
Misleading statistic counting the number of titles in lieu of number of drivers; Schumy’s aberrant number of titles skews the results.
I see 9 Brits with titles and only 2 Germans.
Journeyer (@journeyer) said on 9th October 2011, 14:19
Surely Keith made that very clear in the article? It was clear to me personally.
Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 9th October 2011, 18:52
Err, so what?
Jarred Walmsley (@jarred-walmsley) said on 9th October 2011, 23:23
Whats your point exactly? Do you want it to be titles divided by average number of champions per country or something? All that table showed was the number of titles won and the country that driver came from.
Ilanin (@ilanin) said on 9th October 2011, 21:12
One could also note that Vettel’s title brings Germany level with England on nine WDCs, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart being Scottish.
John H (@john-h) said on 9th October 2011, 22:39
Really pleased for him and indeed the hard working team at Milton Keynes – we should also be congratulating them.
Vettel seems like such a nice bloke off track. I would love him to surpass Schumacher in terms of titles!
STSCM (@stscm) said on 9th October 2011, 23:48
What a well deserved victory. Coming in third behind the guys who tried all season to get to this well deserved point is no shame, look how long it took them both to get there!
If someone, somewhere, were to blow the MSC’s long list of firsts, I’d really enjoy watching SV do that.
IRT JB and FA, what a race both of you boys had today, thank you. For all the number two’s racing, thank you also, typical but enjoyable.
TheBrav3 said on 10th October 2011, 4:50
Gratz pappa smurf childe