This week we look back to 2013, where in contrast to present day, RedBull had been the dominant car for the past 3 seasons. A weekend that made history, and saw a young 26 year old German stand amongst the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, legends of our beautiful sport.
Qualifying:
Round 16 of the 2013 season saw the Indian GP back for the 3rd time, in which the 2 previous times Formula 1 had raced in the Buddh International Circuit, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull had stole the show, and with early showers on Saturday, practice 3 was delayed.
However, qualifying met a different front, the weather had cleared, allowing Red Bulls golden boy- Vettel to set the fastest time that earned him that vital pole position spot. Mercedes Nico Rosberg, stood alongside his fellow German with hopes to catch Vettel in his most prominent season yet. Lewis Hamilton concluded the top 3 spots with his Mercedes, ahead of Mark Webber who salvaged 4th compared to his teammate in that desired P1 position. The highest positioning Ferrari aspired to be the man in the championship battle, however Felipe massa clinched that 4th place with Fernando only capable of 8th. Raikkonen & Hulkenberg line up 6th & 7th, with the final 2 of the top 10 places awarded to the McLaren’s of Perez and Button.
The entire grid was separated by just over two seconds, and with the 107% rule in full effect for the qualifying session, talents such as Daniel Ricciardo & Roman Grosjean out early in the day.
Race:
The good weather in qualifying carried into Sunday’s race, and into the first corner, Red Bull’s speed was just too much for the rest of the grid. Massa’s wonderful start off the line saw the Brazilian jump from 5th to 2nd, after Nico Rosberg dropped back to 3rd.
Pastor Maldonado made the best of rest, maneuvering 5 places forward to sit in 13th place. But what’s the first lap without a bit of drama? Into the second corner saw Red Bull’s Mark Webber touched by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Webber’s teammates main rival in the World drivers championship, damaging the Scuderia’s front wing.
So the end of the first lap saw Vettel sprint off, Massa sitting in P2, followed closely by Rosberg, Hamilton, Hulkenberg & Raikkonen concluded the top 5.
Lap 2 saw an early pit stop from the leader, & with Massa taking the lead for only 6 laps, this Indian GP had another lap leader in Mark Webber who took hold for a small margin before being overtaken by his teammate who lead from half way till the end.
The race was in Sebastians control, and with Alonso far behind, Vettel’s chance at history was closer than he thought.
Lap 40 saw mark Webber retire, becoming the 3rd retiree of the race alongside both caterhams of Pic & Van de Garde.
Vettel took the race win after 60 laps to secure his 10th race win of the season, and six in a row. He was crowned drivers championship with Alonso finishing 11th , and wrote his name beside Schumacher, Prost & Fangio who were the only others to have 4 world titles. Vettel was joined by Rosberg who finished in a strong p2 , 29 seconds behind the flying bull & grosjean who after an incredible race concluded that final podium position. Massa finished 4th with Perez in 5th. Hamilton dropped a few places to end 6th & Kimi raikkonen 7th after a controversial moment with his teammate in the lotus.
Vettel celebrated in front of the Indian crowd and produced iconic imagery that tells a wonderful story of a time in this sport.
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