Vettel grabs historic fourth world title

Germany's Sebastian Vettel roared into the record books as Formula One's youngest four-times world champion after winning the Indian Grand Prix for the third year in a row on Sunday. The 26-year-old's Red Bull team also took the constructors' world championship for the fourth successive year.

"You've done it in style," Red Bull principal Christian Horner shouted over the team radio as Vettel took the chequered flag with a massive 29.8-second lead over compatriot Nico Rosberg for Mercedes. "Brilliant drive. You join the greats, mate. You're up there."

The victory from pole position was Vettel's sixth in a row and completed a hat-trick in India where no other driver has won since the race, which may be making its final appearance on the calendar, made its debut in 2011.

Vettel became the fourth quadruple champion and only the third driver to land four titles in a row after Germany's seven-times winner Michael Schumacher and the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio. He is also the the only one to have won his first four consecutively.

The German celebrated by adding some tyre smoke to the haze of pollution hanging over the Buddh International circuit, slowing the car on the pit straight and then spinning it around with some 'doughnuts' for the fans. Vettel got out, standing up on the car before crouching to kiss the front in a gesture of worship. Clambering up the wire fence, he threw his gloves into the grandstand before scaling the pitwall to embrace Horner and designer Adrian Newey.

"How do I feel? I'm overwhelmed. One of the best days of my life so far," he said in a podium interview alongside Rosberg and third-placed Frenchman Romain Grosjean, who had roared through from 17th on the grid for Lotus and ran as high as second. "I am speechless and I was empty when I crossed the line. I spent ages thinking what to say, there is so much you want to say at a time like that."

Later, he was reprimanded by Formula One's governing body for ignoring post-race procedures while Red Bull was fined ^25,000 ($34,500) for failing to instruct their driver to return directly and park his car in the pit lane.