India – Race: Sebastian Vettel Power 4

Sebastian Vettel starts from pole position for the Indian Grand Prix. He is ahead of the two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton on the starting grid.

**At lights out**, it’s Vettel who gets the best start despite Lewis Hamilton trying to push, as he passes Rosberg at the first corner. Mark Webber, on the other hand, slips up and drops to 7th place. Ahead, Felipe Massa gets the better of the Mercedes at the end of the second long straight. Fernando Alonso is 10th at the end of the first lap while Kimi Räikkönen complains about the behavior of his Lotus.

After one lap, Vettel already has more than a two-second lead over Massa. But at the end of the second lap, the triple world champion comes into the pits to change tires. The same goes for Alonso, who changes his nose following a bump with Webber at the start, followed by another incident with Button’s McLaren at the next corner. It’s a bad move for the Spanish driver who goes back out on medium tires.

The first dropout of this race is credited to Giedo van der Garde who very clearly complained about Max Chilton’s behavior, calling him an “» idiot ».”

On the 7th lap, Jenson Button swaps his medium tires for soft ones while Kimi Räikkönen is struggling with his tires. He also pits at the end of the lap. On the next lap, it’s Massa who does the same. He comes out 8th behind Vettel who is 6th but overtakes his competitors one by one.

Esteban Guttiérez receives a penalty for a jump start. He will have to go through the pits, drive-through.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel is third behind Sergio Pérez and 10 seconds behind his teammate who is already 19 laps in with his medium tires. Behind them, Fernando Alonso finally manages to overtake Guttiérez’s Sauber by squeezing through a tiny gap on the inside of turn 5. He is now in 13th place.

28th lap, Nico Rosberg goes back to the pits for the second time. Mark Webber does the same on the 29th lap and opts for soft tires. Same strategy for Sergio Pérez. Therefore, Sebastian Vettel is in the lead.

In 14th position, Romain Grosjean is desperately trying to find an opening behind Esteban Gutierrez, but the Mexican is putting up a strong defense. A bit too much for the Frenchman’s liking, as he complains that the Sauber is changing lines too often. It is currently under investigation.

Alonso switches to soft tires on lap 31. Vettel follows suit on the 32nd lap but opts for medium tires since he started with softs. He can now go to the end of the race.

Alonso plays “you pass me, I pass you” with Jenson Button while Mark Webber switches to medium tires on the 33rd lap. He is third behind Ricciardo who hasn’t stopped yet. Ricciardo does so at the end of the 33rd lap, as do Pérez and Hülkenberg.

New retirement, that of Charles Pic on the 38th lap for safety reasons. There are no more Caterhams on the track now. The Force India pit wall asks Sutil to keep pushing. The German, in 4th place, has not yet pitted.

What added all the excitement to this Grand Prix comes to an end with Mark Webber’s retirement in the 40th lap due to gearbox issues. Red Bull immediately informs Vettel of the situation. « I know, » replies the future four-time world champion. Kimi Räikkönen is now in second place ahead of Nico Rosberg, who has already made two stops. Adrian Sutil goes back to the pits to put on the soft tires. There are 18 laps remaining.

Animated end of the race for Bottas, Ricciardo and Alonso who are battling for the 11th position. The Australian passes the Williams, closely followed by Alonso.

8 laps to go and Nico Rosberg takes second place by passing Kimi Räikkönen, who has a 7-second lead over Romain Grosjean, who has fresher tires than his teammate.

New retirement 4 laps from the checkered flag, Nico Hülkenberg parks his Sauber in the pits. At Lotus, there’s a tense end to the race between Räikkönen and Grosjean. The Frenchman has tires in better condition but Iceman is resisting even though his tires are in agony and he can do nothing. Felipe Massa also overtakes the Lotus E21, which now has to fend off Pérez and Hamilton, who also pass. Räikkönen eventually enters the pit lane.

At the end of the 60 laps of this Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel claims his fourth world title in the most beautiful way, with a victory, the 36th of his career. Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean complete the podium.

2013 Indian Grand Prix Result: