With victories in Barcelona and Istanbul earlier in the month of May, the 23-year-old German has now won five of the first six races. As such, the championship already looks like a procession.
Indeed, the margin of error for the defending champion is so great that he could retire or finish out of the points in two more races than his nearest rivals - and yet still be ahead of them.
But, while we are unlikely to have a thrilling finish to the championship, F1 fans can take great pleasure from the amazing quality of the racing among those trailing in Vettel's wake.
Thanks to the introduction of the DRS wing, KERS and the tyre-wear on the new Pirellis, the increase in overtaking manoeuvres on previous years, as shown here on James Allen's excellent blog, is simply outstanding.
There was even excitement at the Circuit de Catalunya, traditionally the worst permanent F1 venue for overtaking, as Lewis Hamilton closed in on Vettel in the closing laps.
However, Hamilton failed in his objective of passing the German and it is fair to say that, as Vettel disappears over the horizon in championship terms, this has been a frustrating few weeks for the 2008 champion.
Hamilton's bad weekend in Monaco began in qualifying when, having set the fastest time in Q1 and Q2, his Q3 time was deleted by stewards after he missed a chicane.
In the race itself, he lost a lot of time early on behind Michael Schumacher before being penalised for making contact with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Williams' rookie Pastor Maldonado.
The penalties resulted in an angry outburst from Hamilton who said: "It's an absolute frickin' joke. I've been to see the stewards five times out of six this season.
The Stevenage-born racer added in jest: "Maybe it's because I'm black. That's what Ali G says."
Hamilton escaped further censure for his comments and today he apologised to Massa and Maldonado through the social-networking site Twitter.
But, while Hamilton attempts to rebuild bridges in the paddock, his eventual sixth place finish now leaves him well adrift of Vettel.
The Red Bull driver has 143 points with Hamilton on just 85. Vettel's team mate Mark Webber is in third place on 79 points, three ahead of Hamilton's team mate Jenson Button.
Ferrari's double champion Fernando Alonso may have finished second in Monaco but his relatively poor early start to the season is still costing him as he trails in fifth on 69 points.
Germans Nick Heidfeld (29 points) and Nico Rosberg (26) continue to impress for Renault and Mercedes, as does Japanese racer Kamui Kobayashi after his fifth place finish in Monte Carlo for Sauber.
Doubts over the value of seven-time champion Schumacher's return to F1 remain after the German retired on lap 34, leaving him down in 11th place in the standings on 14 points.
Schumacher's long-time team mate at Ferrari, Rubens Barrichello, scored Williams' first points of the season with a ninth-placed finish in Monaco.
The calendar now takes the F1 drivers to Canada in two weeks before they return to Europe for the European Grand Prix in Valencia on 26 June and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 10 July.
F1 2011 SEASON RESULTS
PODIUMS
Australian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault
Malaysian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault
Chinese GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
Turkish GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
Spanish GP (Pole: Mark Webber)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
Monaco GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
REMAINING CALENDAR
12 June Canadian GP (Montreal)
26 June European GP (Valencia)
10 July British GP (Silverstone)
24 July German GP (Nuerburg)
31 July Hungarian GP (Budapest)
28 August Belgian GP (Spa)
11 September Italian GP (Monza)
25 September Singapore GP (Singapore)
9 October Japanese GP (Suzuka)
16 October Korean GP (Yeongam)
30 October Indian GP (Greater Noida)
13 November Abu Dhabi GP (Yas Island)
27 November Brazilian GP (Sao Paulo)
F1 2011 STANDINGS
World Drivers' Championship
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 143
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 85
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 79
4 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 76
5 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 69
6 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault 29
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 26
8 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 24
9 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 21
10 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 19
11 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes 14
12 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 8
13 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7
14 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams-Cosworth 2
15 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 2
16 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India-Mercedes 2
Eight drivers have yet to score: (17 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 18 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus-Renault, 19 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus-Renault, 20 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin-Cosworth, 21 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Cosworth, 22 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin-Cosworth, 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) HRT-Cosworth, 24 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) HRT-Cosworth)
Constructors' Championship
1 Red Bull-Renault (Aut) 222
2 McLaren-Mercedes (Gbr) 161
3 Ferrari (Ita) 93
4 Renault (Gbr) 50
5 Mercedes (Ger) 40
6 Sauber-Ferrari (Swi) 21
7 Force India-Mercedes (Ind) 10
8 Toro Rosso-Ferrari (Ita) 7
9 Williams-Cosworth (Gbr) 2
There are three teams (Lotus-Renault (Mal), Virgin-Cosworth (Rus) and HRT-Cosworth (Spa)) which have yet to score.
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