Sebastian Vettel puts Schumacher in the shade

Whereas Schumacher left Benetton for Ferrari after his 1994 and 1995 championships and spent years helping the Italian team to their first drivers' title in 21 years, Vettel has so far resisted a move.

There is every chance, with a team that has won the constructors' title for the past three years and has the brilliance of designer Adrian Newey keeping them a step ahead of the rest, that the German can bite deeper and deeper into Schumacher's records.

CRASH KID

Once dubbed a 'Crash Kid' by McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, Vettel showed a new maturity last year when he ran away with his second title.

He has been less dominant this season, at least in the first half, but has been rewarded for his consistency in an unpredictable championship.

I think from the first year when he won in 2010, you'd say his consistency is quite a bit better from that year, said McLaren's Jenson Button, 2009 champion with Brawn GP, who was on the end of a jarring collision with Vettel in Belgium in 2010 that triggered Whitmarsh's comment.

He was making quite a few mistakes, I felt. I think he's grown in confidence over the last two years and you can see that in the consistency that he's had. Obviously he's been in a great car over that time as well but the consistency has been there.

In 2010, Vettel did not lead the championship until the moment when it really mattered, after the final floodlit race in Abu Dhabi when he clawed back a 15-point deficit on Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

The following year, he wrapped up the title in Japan with four races to spare. He ended that same season with a record 15 pole positions and 11 race wins.

The German has found it harder to assert himself this season with seven different winners in the first seven races but Singapore proved the turning point, and he went on to win four races in a row to take the lead from Alonso in South Korea.

... contd.

ALSO READ

Arsenal win Champions League race, Fergie bows out

IPL 2013: Clash of Titans as CSK face Mumbai Indians in 1st play-off

Rome Open: Nadal dominates Federer in final; Serena Williams wins

IPL 2013: Sunrisers Hyderabad qualify for play-offs, knock RCB out