Suzuka: In becoming Formula One's youngest two-title winner, Sebastian Vettel is now fit to be compared to some of the sport's greatest drivers.
Vettel finished third at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, a result that allowed the 24-year-old Red Bull driver to wrap up his second straight championship with four races to spare.
The affable German has been on a meteoric rise since making his F1 race debut in 2007, having previously become the youngest man to win a race and the youngest to win a world title.
He joins some of the greats of the sport in becoming a multiple world champion, including F1 royalty like Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
Vettel began his F1 career in 2006 as a back-up driver for BMW Sauber. In 2007, he made a one race apperance for the team, standing in for the injured Robert Kubica in the US Grand Prix. At season's end, BMW released Vettel to join the Toro Rosso team and he became the youngest driver in history to win a Grand Prix when he won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at 21 years and 74 days.
By comparison, Michael Schumacher - the benchmark of achievement in the sport for his seven world titles - was 23 when he won his first race in 1992.
Vettel then made the step-up from Toro Rosso to their parent team Red Bull, replacing the retired David Coulthard for the start of the 2009 season. He would go on to win four races that season and then went one better in 2010 with five wins to became the youngest world champion in the sport's history.
It was fitting that Vettel clinched his second title in Japan. He won from pole here the last two years and the Suzuka circuit is a track that requires precision and speed, two qualities Vettel has in abundance.
Schumacher, statistically the greatest driver in F1 history, was the youngest two-time winner in 1995 at the age of 26, but that was bettered by Fernando Alonso when he won back-to-back championships in 2005, 2006 for Renault at the age of 25.
Vettel has a long way to go match Schumacher's numbers but there are Schumacher records within Vettel's grasp this year, including most wins in a season. Schumacher won 13 races in 2004 and Vettel could yet match that.
He also has a chance to break the record for the most poles in a single season held by Nigel Mansell, who had 14 in 1992. Vettel has 12 this season.
Schumacher's career records of seven world titles, 91 wins and 68 poles had been regarded as unmatchable but Vettel's tender years - with a decade or more in the sport beckoning - may force a revision of that presumption.
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