Sebastian Vettel holds all the records as a young driver. The German has managed to win four Formula One titles. With a bunch of records to his name, he is on his way to becoming a legend in the sport.
Vettel born on July 3, 1887, and grew up idolizing German racing icon, Michael Schumacher. He took up karting in 1995 and proved to have great talent. In 2014, he was awarded the ‘Laureus World Sports Award’ as sportsman of the year.
Regardless of which team he is racing for, Vettel remains one of the most popular and successful Formula One racers at the moment.
Here are 10 facts about Sebastian Vettel that not many people may know.
Vettel is a Fan of Enzo
Vettel has been fascinated by the life of Enzo Ferrari, and to that end, he devours any written material on Enzo.
“I’m fascinated by the vision of the man. Today the brand of Ferrari is known all over the world, it has global significance but back then, no one could have imagined that,” commented Vettel.
“It’s incredible that all of this came from the mind of one person. It’s a shame he’s not here anymore,” said Vettel, admiring his feats.
'Baby Schumi'
When he won the Italian GP in 2008, he was nicknamed 'Baby Schumi'. He is similar to Schumacher, not just in terms of the shared German nationality but also with regard to driving style, concentration, and activity behind the scenes. Both of them had a mundane upbringing, and both started with go-karts.
Education
Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school, but he passed his school leaving exams ("Abitur") at Heppenheimth's Starkenburg-Gymnasium (academic secondary school) with a respectable grade.
Dream
Vettel’s dream was to become a singer, which is worlds apart from what he currently does. He was aiming to be no less than Michael Jackson, who was one of his inspirations. In addition, he is a crazy Beatles fan.
Youngest World Champion
At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Fernando Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days when he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. It was the first podium and win for his Toro Rosso team.
Loves to name his car at the start of every season
Vettel has a habit of naming his cars since 2008. He named his cars – Julie (2008), Kate(2009) and Kate’s Dirty Sister (after Kate had crashed in Australia), Luscious Liz and Randy Mandy (2010 after Liz had problems and had to be replaced), Kinky Kylie (2011 named after pop-star Kylie Minogue), Abbey (2012- he just liked the name), and Hungry Heidi (2013 – named after model Heidi Klum).
Special edition cars named after him
He has special edition cars named after him from Infiniti. In September 2012, the Infiniti FX Sebastian Vettel Version concept was officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Badminton
He likes to play badminton (it helps him to improve speed qualities) and has had Kimi Raikkonen for the company and they share quite a camaraderie off-the-track.
Quickest driver to be fined
Vettel holds a record for being the quickest driver to be fined($1000) for speeding in the pits(in a matter of 9 seconds) on his Formula One debut, as a test driver for BMW-Sauber, at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix.
Car crash
Vettel was involved in a serious crash even before his debut as a Formula One driver. The incident occurred at Spa-Francorchamps while driving in a Formula 3 race as he crashed at 170mph into the barriers at the dreaded Eau Rouge. A piece of debris from the crash cut through his index finger and it had to be almost cut off. However, doctors were able to stitch it back together and he recovered.
