Vettel basks in title success

VICTORY at the final Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi saw Sebastian Vettel become the youngest world champion in Formula One history yesterday.

The German’s fifth win of the season saw him go top of the standings for the first time in 2010, beating pre-race title favourite Fernando Alonso by four points.

At 23 years and 135 days, Vettel beats the mark set by Lewis Hamilton – who finished second ahead of team-mate and outgoing world champion Jenson Button – by 166 days. Alonso trailed home a distant seventh having failed to recover from an early tyre change, which dropped him down the field, eventually finishing one position ahead of Mark Webber, who, disappointingly, never mounted a serious threat.