Sebastian Vettel found himself spinning around on the track just after the start, watching helplessly as other cars whizzed past him. His Formula One title hopes seemed to be drifting away with them.
It was only the start of Vettel’s problems on Sunday in what he called the toughest race of his career. But he overcame all of them and walked away with the only prize that mattered – his third straight championship title by a margin of just three points.
Vettel shook off a first-lap crash and other difficulties to finish sixth at the Brazilian Grand Prix, good enough to protect his lead over challenger Fernando Alonso and become F1’s youngest three-time champion at age 25.
“It’s very difficult to find the right words, especially after the race today,” he said. “Everything that could go wrong went wrong.”
Jenson Button of McLaren won the race at Interlagos, with Alonso second and Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa third. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, F1’s most successful driver, finished seventh in his final race after 19 seasons.
But they were all overshadowed by Vettel, who had to overcome a poor start, the early crash, a damaged car, a broken radio, a botched pit stop and pouring rain to capture the championship title.
“Just look at the stuff that went wrong. It was for sure the toughest race,” Vettel said. “We kept believing. It was never game over.”
Vettel appeared to be in big trouble when he was bumped shortly after the start and spun. He dropped to last place before he could turn his car around and begin a difficult pursuit. But he steadily worked his way up the field despite a slightly damaged car and no radio communication.
He needed to finish fourth or better to clinch the title regardless of Alonso’s result. The Spaniard, who needed to finish on the podium to have a chance of overtaking Vettel, looked to have the advantage after a superb start and a chaotic first lap, but in the end couldn’t erase Vettel’s 13-point lead in the standings.
Lewis Hamilton was leading in his final race with McLaren when Nico Hulkenberg crashed into him while trying to pass on a slippery track with 17 laps to go. Hamilton received a standing ovation from his McLaren team when he returned to the garage.
“I feel a bit numb,” said Hamilton, who will replace Schumacher at Mercedes next season. “It’s been a day of mixed emotions. I’m sad that I didn’t finish the race, but I’m excited about the future.”
While the race was filled with drama and potentially title-deciding swings, it had an anticlimactic finish behind the safety car after Paul Di Resta crashed just before the final lap. That meant Vettel could simply cruise safely toward the title.
It rained on and off throughout, making conditions difficult and forcing drivers to pit for tyre changes several times.
“It was more or less was what we wanted, mixed conditions and very, very difficult race,” Alonso said.
“It was one of the most difficult races we ever drove. You feel you are with the wrong tyre every lap. We were hoping for a little miracle.”
Alonso moved from seventh to fifth after the first corner, while Vettel dropped from fourth to seventh. Vettel then was hit from behind by the Williams of Bruno Senna and spun at the end of the back straight, dropping to last place after sitting backward on the track with several cars having to go around him.
“I had a lot of cars coming and I was in the wrong way,” Vetter said.
Moments later, Alonso passed Massa and Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber at the same time to move to third.
But the Spaniard lost a position after locking his front tyre and briefly running off the track at the first corner.
Vettel began making his way back to the front, easily passing the slower cars near the end of the pack. He was already in sixth by lap 15.
Alonso briefly had the title in his hands again after more rain fell with 14 laps to go. Red Bull lost time while putting the wet tyres on Vettel’s car, dropping him to 11th place while Alonso moved into third.
“The (tyres) weren’t ready because we had no radio communication, they couldn’t hear me,” Vettel said.
But after all cars pitted, Vettel was back in sixth place. Alonso moved to second after passing Massa, but he needed Vettel to drop a few more spots to take the title.