The Champ!

“This sort of driving would go down quite well on Delhi roads,” I offer helpfully to the man heaving the fully laden sedan around by the scruff of the neck.

It’s the sort of remark that might be directed at the run-of-the-mill taxi driver, many of whom, like yours truly, hail from the subcontinent. However, this was a taxi ride of a different sort – the man doing the hooning was quadruple Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel... And the sedan taking a beating wasn’t a Falcon or Commodore, it was the all-new Infiniti Q50, which arrives next year as the replacement for the long-in-the-tooth G37...

With arguably more sideways movement than forward progress, we’re careering around the narrow confines of the 1.2km kart track at Abu Dhabi’s Al Forsan International Sports Resort – accompanied by a non-stop tyre-squealing soundtrack.

It’s somewhat akin to running a marathon around the clothesline in your backyard, but Vettel sticks with the ‘drive it like you stole it’ approach, tipping the Q50 on its doorhandles through the non-stop sequence of tight corners.

Even though we’re being flung from side to side, I attempt to keep up some semblance of a normal conversation with the Heppenheim hotshoe.

“Where are you from?” he asks as we set off on our hot-lap session.

“India, Jordan and Spain,” I answer on behalf of all passengers on board.

“Which one of you is from India?” Vettel asks next, to which I reply, “I am,” and then add my little gem about his driving being tailor-made for Indian roads.

For the benefit of readers who have never driven in Delhi, suffice it to say it boils down largely to survival of the fittest. Three-sixty-degree vision is a must, along with the ability to weave and dodge your way down the road in order to avoid errant cyclists, scooters, bullock carts, cows, stray dogs, plus other cars, buses and trucks. It’s a nerve-wracking ordeal, possibly matched only by the cut-and-thrust jockeying that takes place in the immediate aftermath of the lights going green in a Formula One race.

My attempts at making small talk with Vettel during the hot-lap prove short-lived, but I do manage to glean that his preferred daily driver (when he’s not racing) is a second-hand Volkswagen Transporter that cost him $40K when he bought it in 2007.

The modest choice of transportation is reflective of the generally down-to-earth air that Vettel projects, as is his admission that he particularly enjoys doing “simple day-to-day things”.

A highly private person away from the F1 circus, Vettel has chosen the tranquil Swiss village of Ellighausen, close to the German border, to settle with long-term girlfriend Hanna Prater.

“I go to the shops and buy my own stuff,’ he says.

“I’ve never known it differently. I have a little bit of help with some things. I have someone who does the lawn – even though I do it myself quite a lot.”

Vettel has been roped into today’s media exercise at Al Forsan (on the Thursday before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) as part of his commitments for the Infiniti Red Bull Racing team, which has provided him with a title-winning car for the past four years.

Unlike some F1 drivers who cringe at the prospect of any duties that involve schmoozing rather than pelting a 642kg single-seater in the heat of battle (Kimi Raikkonen, we’re looking at you), the blonde German deals with it all with the utmost of grace.

Never short of a grin or cheeky quip, he actually seems to enjoy interacting with the media throng. He patiently endures the seemingly never-ending photo and autograph sessions, before being whisked away in a waiting Infiniti.

Vettel has been dominant this season. With victory in the Abu Dhabi GP, he notched up his seventh win on the bounce, and 11th of the season. (With Vettel now taking out the last two races of the season he has equalled Schumacher’s seemingly unassailable record of 13 wins in a season.)

Such is the magnitude of Vettel’s statistical achievements (and his old-head-on-young-shoulders demeanour), it’s hard to believe the German ace is still only 26 years old.

In 2010 he became the youngest ever Formula One world champion and the raw talent that carried him to his maiden title success has been consistently honed over the past three seasons. Arguably, he is now the complete driver – able to deliver lap times on demand, while simultaneously strategising in the heat of battle.

This was never more evident than in the season-ending Brazilian GP of 2012, when he ended up facing the wrong way – and in dead-last position – following a first-lap collision with Bruno Senna. It all looked lost for him at that point, but he was still able to fight back and manhandle his damaged car to sixth position. It was enough to seal the title by three points.

He’s shown the same never-say-die attitude and tactical wizardry on occasions this year when his Red Bull RB9 wasn’t necessarily the fastest car over a given weekend. The results are plain to see; in the first 17 races of the 2013 season, Vettel had scored points at every single one, barring the British GP, which he was leading until a gearbox failure brought him to a halt on lap 42.

Despite his success, there are still the inevitable doubters who argue that Vettel’s impressive results are more down to the genius of Red Bull designer, Adrian Newey. Among those is Lewis Hamilton, who argues that either he or Fernando Alonso would be able to deliver similar – or even better – results in the same car.

Whether or not this is a valid point is neither here nor there. The fact is that Vettel has routinely beaten teammate Mark Webber – a superbly quick and capable driver in his own right. He’s also trounced every other driver on the grid.

Like any world champ, Vettel obviously has a substantial fan base, but he’s not universally liked, as evidenced by the booing that has accompanied many of the post-race presentations this year where he’s ascended the top step of the podium. This is partly the fallout from this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix, where Vettel disobeyed team orders instructing him to hold position behind Mark Webber for a team 1-2. He then compounded the situation with a muddled explanation to the media.

The bad blood between Webber and Vettel dates back to 2007, when the German – then driving for Red Bull’s Toro Rosso feeder team – collided with the Aussie in the wet during the Japanese GP at Fuji, taking them both out of the race. Webber had been in second position at the time, and was vocal in his criticism of the young charger.

Worse was in store at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix when Vettel attempted a pass on Webber (who was in the lead at the time), only for the pair to make contact. Webber was able to continue and finish third, but Vettel was out of the race.

Having exited his car, the young German made a gesture suggesting Webber was a nutcase. It seemed somewhat childish, especially as Vettel had contributed more to the collision.

What must be particularly worrisome for the rest of the F1 field is that both Newey and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feel that Vettel still hasn’t reached his peak.

This is not inconceivable as even Michael Schumacher wasn’t at his best until his late 20s and early 30s. Vettel is only 26 and already has four titles under his belt. He conceivably has another eight to 10 years of top-level competitive duty left in him so is well placed to shatter Schumacher’s record haul of seven career championships.

‘Schuey’ says he’s not too worried about Vettel eclipsing his benchmark, but it doesn’t augur well for Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

As it stands, Vettel will go down in F1 annals as one of the greats, while the records of Alonso and Hamilton will fail to do justice to their tremendous talents.
THE NEW INFINITI Q50
Our ‘taxi’ for the day was the all-new Infiniti Q50, which replaces the long-serving G sedan and is the first production car to feature drive-by-wire steering instead of conventional mechanical and hydraulic linkages.

In addition to being simpler in concept, the new set-up is also claimed to be more responsive and customisable by providing four different steering settings.

The Q50 is initially being launched with a 3.7-litre V6 with 245kW and 365Nm, but also in the pipeline is a hybrid variant that mates a 3.5-litre V6 with an electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries. Later turbo diesel and petrol fours will be added to the range. These will feature power plants shared with Mercedes-Benz's next generation C-Class models.

The Q50 variants come with a seven-speed automatic gearbox with manual mode and (in some markets) the option of a rear-wheel drive or Intelligent All-Wheel Drive.

>> Vettel’s childhood heroes were “The three Michaels”: Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson.

>> Like Schumacher, Vettel grew up in a small town with a blue-collar background—Schumacher’s father was a bricklayer and Vettel’s a carpenter. Both had their first taste of racing at the Kerpen karting track near Cologne, not far from the Nürburgring.

>> Vettel began driving by lapping the garden in his childhood, not even stopping to eat or shower, before he could legally take to the roads. He says his passion for cars was nurtured by watching Schumacher compete.

>> Vettel is a big fan of The Beatles. His favourite song is Drive My Car.

>> In an interview on Top Gear, Vettel stated that he was a fan of British comedy such as Little Britain and Monty Python’s Life of Brian.