Sebastian Vettel a triple threat after fourth GP in row

SEBASTIAN Vettel has scored his fourth consecutive win and extended his title lead to 13 points by taking out the Indian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel

DEFENDING world champion Sebastian Vettel cruised to his fourth consecutive win and extended his lead in this year's title race to 13 points when he steered his Red Bull to victory in the Indian Grand Prix last night.

The 25-year-old German dominated the race from pole to the chequered flag to come home ahead of his nearest championship rival, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

Vettel's Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, finished third to consolidate his grip on third place in the title race, the Australian fending off a strong late challenge from Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, who finished fourth ahead of his teammate and compatriot Jenson Button.

Felipe Massa came home sixth in the second Ferrari ahead of his old friend Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, Nico Hulkenberg of Force India, Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus and 10th placed Bruno Senna of Williams.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo was 13th in his Toro Rosso.

It was Vettel's 26th win and he revelled in his familiar trick of adding the fastest lap of the race in the final lap and then standing atop of his car to milk the applause from the crowd.

Vettel, aiming to become Formula One's youngest triple champion, said: "Two years and two wins here, it's a very special grand prix. A big thanks to my team, we're all pushing very hard.

"This is another good step (to the title) for us but there is still a long way to go."

Alonso said: "It's not easy at the moment to fight with Red Bull but we will never give up. Well done Red Bull and Sebastian but we want to be happy in Brazil, not only here. I am sure we will do it."

The only danger to Vettel in an otherwise seamless success came in the closing laps when sparks sprayed out from underneath his car's front spoiler but there was no trouble.

On another dry, hot day, accompanied by heavy smog, at the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi, with the air temperature touching 30C and the track temperature nudging 39C, Vettel looked the coolest man on the grid at the start and when the lights went out, he demonstrated his concentration with a perfect getaway from his 35th pole position.

Webber followed him and as the two Red Bulls took an immediate grip on the race, there was a fierce battle for third behind them on the opening lap.

The two McLaren men scrapped from the start and were passed in the straight by Alonso, but repassed him in a dramatic manoeuvre. Alonso's Ferrari clearly had a superior top-speed performance, thanks to a long top gear and an effective Drag Reduction System (DRS), and it was no surprise when he surged into third in his bid to tail the Red Bulls on lap four.

By then, the two leaders were pulling clear and building up a lead that was close to four seconds by lap 10. Having recovered from his unspectacular start in which he fell to fourth and then fifth, Hamilton passed teammate Button on lap six to regain fourth.

Michael Schumacher suffered the misfortune of collecting a right-rear puncture at the start and then the ignominy of being lapped by compatriot Vettel on lap eight.

To make matters worse, as he struggled among the tail-enders, the seven-time champion was reprimanded by the stewards for failing to obey blue flags, when waved to indicate a driver is about to be passed by the leaders.

Button was the first driver into the pits, on lap 26. His move triggered the usual flurry of pit-lane activity that included a remarkable stop by Hamilton six laps later when the McLaren crew changed all of his tyres and his steering wheel in 3.3 seconds.

Grosjean, running like Hamilton on a one-stop strategy, rose through the field and was the last of the leading group to come in and rejoined in ninth place as Vettel stretched his lead to 12.5 seconds.

The next race is on November 4 in Abu Dhabi, where Vettel won his first world title in 2010 ahead of Alonso in what was then the season finale.

AFP