Another big weekend for Sebastian Vettel

Two weeks on from winning his first F1 drivers’ championship in the Abu Dhabi, there is still little sign of Sebastian Vettel taking a rest. This weekend he demonstrated his Red Bull on the streets of the Berlin in his native Germany.

If that wasn’t enough, he then headed to Dusseldorf where he and Michael Schumacher clinched their fourth successive Nations Cup title at the annual Race of Champions (ROC) event.

Vettel’s Berlin run took place on Saturday on a temporary track constructed on June 17th Street, allowing Formula One’s youngest champion to drive an F1 car in front of the famous Brandenburg Gate. He then completed a driver’s parade along Yitzhak-Rabin Street, aboard the Red Bull tour bus.

Happy to be able to celebrate with his fans in the German capital, Vettel said: "It was a dream come true for me today and it was great that so many people were here, even in the cold weather. It’s something very special to drive in front of the Brandenburg Gate and to leave a signature of rubber written by my slicks! You don’t get such a chance very often in life - it was a great day.”

On Sunday, neither Vettel nor Schumacher made the finals in the individual ROC competition, but in combination they were again invincible in the Nations Cup. In a repeat of the last two finals, Team Germany lined up against Team GB, represented by touring car stars Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato. The two teams were extremely closely matched and needed a sudden-death shoot-out to decide the result, with Schumacher beating Priaulx by a fraction.

Qualifying - Vettel takes vital Yas Marina pole

Sebastian Vettel will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just where he wants, on pole position after lapping his Red Bull in 1m 39.394s. But the most important qualifying session of the year was a major disappointment for the team mate Mark Webber who managed only fifth place in 1m 39.925s and will be separated from Vettel by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Earlier, Hamilton had been fortunate to avoid the contact with Felipe Massa when, after a big slide on his first lap in Q2, he’d had to back off the pace and resumed just as the Ferrari was alongside. The former champion walloped a camera pole, but his McLaren did not sustain any damage and he recovered his momentum brilliantly to lap second quickest before his time eventually left him fifth in that session.

He already held second place as Q3 drew to its close, but trimmed his time down to 1m 39.425s to demonstrate to Vettel that he may yet have a race on his hands on Sunday. Alonso’s late improvement was bad news for Webber. The Spaniard lapped in 1m 39.792s to jump to third, ahead of Button on 1m 39.823s.

Webber will share row three with Massa, who lapped his F10 in 1m 40.202s, while Williams’ Rubens Barrichello’s 1m 40.203s left him seventh ahead of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg on 1m 40.516s and 1m 40.589s respectively. Like Massa, both suffered in late-session traffic. Vitaly Petrov was 10th for Renault, with 1m 40.901s.

Vettel redefined the ante in Q2 with the fastest lap of the weekend thus far in 1m 39.874s, ahead of the revitalised Button, Rosberg, Webber and Hamilton. Further back, Robert Kubica surprisingly failed to make Q3, taking 11th place behind team mate Petrov with 1m 40.780s in a Renault that still seemed not to be running as well as it did on Friday.

Fernando Alonso has F1 title in his own hands

Fernando Alonso has the championship lead on his side as he aims to clinch the Formula One (F1) world title in a historic finale Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

But in a season of roller-coaster rides for all the stars, Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton are also in the frame.

It is the first time in F1 history that four drivers are in the title race ahead of the season-ender.

A simple engine failure in Alonso's Ferrari could for instance open the door for the others, he may be shunted off the track by another driver, make a mistake himself or have yet another negative experience with the safety car as has happened already three times this season.

However, Alonso has a third career title in his own hands as championship leader. He has amassed 246 points from 18 of 19 races, with Webber on 238, Vettel on 231 and Hamilton on 222.

Under the current system, the top 10 drivers get points in a 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 format.

Alonso has done his maths and says 'I just need to finish second. It does not matter who wins in Abu Dhabi if I finish second'.

The Spaniard can also afford third place if Webber does not win, and fourth or fifth if Webber and Vettel do not win.

Webber will secure the trophy if he wins and Alonso comes no better than third. A team order of sorts may be used if Vettel leads from Webber and Alonso in the final lap, as Ferrari also ordered Felipe Massa to let Alonso pass for victory at the German GP.

Jenson Button vows to fight on in F1 title defence

McLaren's Jenson Button says he would not forgive himself if he did not try to defend his Formula 1 crown at the next weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Button, who clinched the 2009 title in the Brazil, trails Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso by 42 points with only 50 points up for grabs.

"It is a long shot but I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I chose not to go for it," said Button.

"I've always said I'll fight until it's mathematically impossible for me."

Alonso, the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel and McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Button are all still in the title hunt with only two races to go in Brazil and Abu Dhabi on 14 November.

Button needs to finish at least second at Brazil's Interlagos circuit and hope other results go his way.

Two-time champion Alonso, who leads the standings by 11 points from Webber, is the only driver who can clinch the 2010 crown in Brazil.

F1 cars ready for Friday's Korean debut

The F1 Korean Grand Prix starts its three-day event Friday at Yeongam in South Jeolla Province, with 24 drivers from 12 teams and their machines now gathering, along with hundreds of staffers.

The drivers can practice up to three times from Friday to Saturday noon, ahead of a qualifying session to try and take poll position.

Qualifying will take place over three occasions. In the first 20-minute time race the slowest seven drivers will get grid positions 18 to 24 and the second 15-minute race will decide the next order of the next seven drivers.

The remaining 10 drivers will compete for poll position in the final 10-minute session.

As the Korean Grand Prix is holding its inaugural race the drivers have less information on whether the Korean International Circuit is easy to overtake or not.

For that reason, the drivers are likely to focus on the qualifying sessions as the starting positions could have a huge bearing on the end result.

Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing leads the drivers’ championship with 220 points, Spanish hero Fernando Alonso of Scuderia Ferrari-Marlboro and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing shared second with 206.

The top 10 finishers are awarded points on a sliding scale, with the winner receiving 25, while 10th place gets a solitary point.

While the drivers could add up to 75 points in the last three events, two Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will need to shine to keep alive their slim hopes of winning the championship.

Webber: I need another win for the title

Championship leader Mark Webber says he must take with another race victory this season as he looks to secure his first Formula One drivers’ title. Webber extended his standings lead in Suzuka on Sunday, but has not won a Grand Prix since Hungary back in August.

“I need to win again in the future,” said Webber after his second-place finish behind Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel in Japan. “I’m very confident I can do that, and that would be beneficial, of course, but also reliability can still yet play a role, many things, circumstances, lots of different things.”

Webber has benefitted from the intense competition in recent races between Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren. His consistency - podiums at four of the last five rounds - combined with Lewis Hamilton’s misfortunes, Fernando Alonso’s renaissance and Vettel’s Suzuka win have seen the Australian’s points advantage grow from just five after Monza to 11 after Singapore and 14 after Japan.

“Two weeks ago (my main rival) was Lewis, then it was Fernando - it’s chopping and changing, but the most important thing is that the gap is going the right way,” continued Webber. “I need to keep it like that. We’ve got three races to go and it’s a good result for me.”

Nevertheless, with 75 points still up for grabs from the remaining races in Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, and with five drivers still in contention for the title, Webber knows he can take nothing for granted.

“As we’ve seen this year, five of us are capable of winning races,” he added. “Well, four in the dry - Jenson’s (Button) had a few races in the wet conditions - but in the dry conditions it’s been four of us who can win.”

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: Our aim is to be ‘big in Japan’!

Friday was a good day for Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, after he took the top honours in both the practice sessions at the Suzuka. Even with unsettled weather conditions predicted for qualifying, Vettel is brimming with the confidence and gunning for a second successive Japanese victory on Sunday…

Q: Sebastian, what is your goal for this weekend?
Sebastian Vettel: To win. With our car it must be the aim - and this track supports that aim. Last year we were very strong here so it’s natural that we want to repeat that. The conditions will be crucial, but right now it is difficult to predict what those conditions will be. It seems a low-pressure front is coming towards us but it is still hard to say when it will hit the region.

Q: Many fear that this track seems designed to suit the Red Bull…
SV: If that were true I would eliminate the straights and add some more corners to it! Then that would be true. But yes, we are pretty confident that we will enjoy a good result here.

Q: You won last year’s race, so you must be feeling pretty confident…
SV: I like this circuit. I walked the track because you see its special characteristic more and you instinctively ask yourself why it cannot be like this anywhere else. The right combination of corners is just great - that’s what makes a great circuit.

Vettel: Points gap is not that dramatic

Sebastian Vettel insists the 24-point gap between himself and Mark Webber is not as big as it looks as he bids to become the Red Bull's first World Champ.

Vettel and his team-mate Webber are just two of the five drivers still involved in this year's title fight with the Webber leading the way on 187 points while Vettel is the final driver in the running with 163.

However, the German, who has claimed seven pole positions but only two race wins this season, is adamant the gap is not as big as it may appear.

"Whether I'm not 24, 25 or 30 points behind I still could not care less. The new points system scares people more than necessary," Vettel told the Bild.

"Many are not yet familiar with it and that a win counts for 25 points. If I was eight or nine behind with the old system where there were ten for a victory, then it would all look much less dramatic."

Vettel, though, has had a mixed season, coming for a great deal of cricitism as a result of two high profile accidents.

The first saw him take out his team-mate in Turkey while in Belgium he crashed into McLaren's Jenson Button.

But despite the complaints, which had McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh labeling him a "crash kid", the Red Bull racer says he has not once doubted his ability to win the World title.

"In peace lies strength," he added. "We are not panicking but continue to work quietly.

"I believe I can win the title and that is crucial!"