MULTIPLE F1 WORLD CHAMPIONS
| (7) | Michael Schumacher (GER) | Benetton | 1994, 1995 |
| Ferrari | 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 | ||
| (5) | Juan Manuel Fangio (ARG) | Alfa Romeo | 1951 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 1954, 1955 | ||
| Ferrari | 1956 | ||
| Maserati | 1957 | ||
| (4) | Alain Prost (FRA) | McLaren | 1985, 1986, 1989 |
| Williams | 1993 | ||
| (4) | Sebastian Vettel (GER) | Red Bull | 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
SEBASTIAN VETTEL joined a pantheon of motor racing legends after clinching his fourth successive Formula One world title with victory in the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit.
Vettel's win from pole was his sixth in a row, and his seventh in the last eight races. It was also his 10th of the season which, remarkably, is eight more than anyone else.
Aged just 26, the German became the youngest ever four-time world champion, having previously been the youngest world champion, youngest double world champion, and youngest triple world champion.
And yet, despite - or maybe because - of his glittering career, Vettel is not exactly a popular champion with the crowds.
Booing on the podium has blighted the second half of the season when, after a fairly even start to 2013, the superiority of Vettel and the Red Bull team has become unquestionable.
Vettel had remained pretty quiet on the issue at previous Grand Prix but he finally admitted on Sunday that he has been hurt by the negative reaction.
"It's very difficult for me personally, to receive boos, even though you haven't done anything wrong," he said.
"At the time it hurts not to get the reception you expect but I think I'm clever enough to understand why they do it. I'm not blaming them."
Vettel's theory is that most of his detractors are supporters of Ferrari or McLaren, and are finding it difficult to see a team as dominant as Red Bull when it is not their own.
Meanwhile, Adrian Newey, Red Bull design chief extraordinaire, agreed that at least part of it was down to "jealousy of success people have".
However, Newey has also recognised that Vettel has not helped himself this year, even effectively admitting that the German's oft-seen index-finger victory salute could be perceived as arrogant.
Then, there is Vettel's flagrant decision early in the season to ignore team orders not to pass team-mate Mark Webber in Malaysia.
But none of these reasons is in any way good enough for motor racing fans to boo a quadruple world champion. It is rather poor form and he really cannot help being as good as he is.
It does beg the question, though - just how good is Vettel?
Arguably, the last four years have shown only that he is faster than his older team-mate Webber, and that much of his success has been down to the brilliant design work of Newey.
To pardon the pun, that in itself would be nothing new. Since 1992, Newey has designed the winning car on 10 occasions, having previously furnished the likes of Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, and Mika Häkkinen at Williams and then McLaren.
Of course, Vettel - for his part - has plenty of brilliance throughout his short career - from winning in a Toro Rosso in Monza in 2008 to wrapping up his title on Sunday by storming through the field from 17th after an early tyre change.
Nevertheless, the feeling persists even among die-hard race fans, who would never boo him, that he needs to win the Drivers' Championship with more than one team - just as Prost, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Michael Schumacher did.
Some more competition would help too, although that this has not been present is largely down to the faults of the other teams.
Ferrari, in particular, have consistently let down their main driver Fernando Alonso over the last few years while McLaren have had another year to forget with even Lotus ahead of them in the Constructors' standings.
Mercedes have probably been the best of the rest in 2013 with three race victories from their two drivers, Lewis Hamilton (once) and Nico Rosberg (twice).
Rosberg's second-place in India has even lifted them back above Ferrari in the Constructors' championship with just three races left.
But the team came back down with one hell of a bump today following the bombshell news that their team principal Ross Brawn has decided to leave at the end of the season.
Brawn, alongside Newey, is the other remarkable figure in F1 over the last 20 or so years, having masterminded Schumacher's seven world titles at Benetton and Ferrari before later leading Jenson Button to a dream title-winning season in 2009.
If Brawn were to leave F1 altogether, then he would be a great loss to the sport - and a blow for those hoping that the Vettel-Newey axis will be properly challenged next year.
Nevertheless, 2014 already promises more than 2013 has delivered, with the move from 2.4 litre V8s to 1.6 litre V6 turbos among other big regulation changes.
It will be a clean slate for all of the teams - but the same question as last year will remain: can anyone stop Vettel?
CALENDAR
| Date | Television | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winner | |
| 17 March | Sky | Australian Grand Prix | Vettel | Raikkonen | Raikkonen |
| 24 March | Sky | Malaysian Grand Prix | Vettel | Perez | Vettel |
| 14 April | BBC Sky | Chinese Grand Prix | Hamilton | Vettel | Alonso |
| 21 April | Sky | Bahrain Grand Prix | Rosberg | Vettel | Vettel |
| 12 May | BBC Sky | Spanish Grand Prix | Rosberg | Gutierrez | Alonso |
| 26 May | Sky | Monaco Grand Prix | Rosberg | Vettel | Rosberg |
| 9 June | BBC Sky | Canadian Grand Prix | Vettel | Webber | Vettel |
| 30 June | BBC Sky | British Grand Prix | Hamilton | Webber | Rosberg |
| 7 July | Sky | German Grand Prix | Hamilton | Alonso | Vettel |
| 28 July | Sky | Hungarian Grand Prix | Hamilton | Webber | Hamilton |
| 25 August | BBC Sky | Belgian Grand Prix | Hamilton | Vettel | Vettel |
| 8 September | BBC Sky | Italian Grand Prix | Vettel | Hamilton | Vettel |
| 22 September | Sky | Singapore Grand Prix | Vettel | Vettel | Vettel |
| 6 October | Sky | Korean Grand Prix | Vettel | Vettel | Vettel |
| 13 October | BBC Sky | Japanese Grand Prix | Webber | Webber | Vettel |
| 27 October | BBC Sky | Indian Grand Prix | Vettel | Raikkonen | Vettel |
| 3 November | Sky | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Webber | Alonso | Vettel |
| 17 November | Sky | United States Grand Prix | |||
| 24 November | BBC Sky | Brazilian Grand Prix |
STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship
| P | Driver | Team | Points |
| 01 | Sebastian Vettel (Ger) | Red Bull-Renault | 347 (11 wins) |
| 02 | Fernando Alonso (Spa) | Ferrari | 217 (2 wins) |
| 03 | Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) | Lotus-Renault | 183 (1 win) |
| 04 | Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) | McLaren-Mercedes | 175 (1 win) |
| 05 | Mark Webber (Aus) | Red Bull-Renault | 166 |
| 06 | Nico Rosberg (Ger) | Mercedes | 159 (2 wins) |
| 07 | Romain Grosjean (Fra) | Lotus-Renault | 114 |
| 08 | Felipe Massa (Brz) | Ferrari | 106 |
| 09 | Jenson Button (Gbr) | McLaren-Mercedes | 60 |
| 10 | Paul di Resta (Gbr) | Force India-Mercedes | 48 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) | Sauber-Ferrari | 39 |
| 12 | Sergio Perez (Mex) | McLaren-Mercedes | 35 |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil (Ger) | Force India-Mercedes | 29 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) | Toro-Rosso-Ferrari | 19 |
| 15 | Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) | Toro-Rosso-Ferrari | 13 |
| 16 | Esteban Gutierrez (Mex)* | Sauber-Ferrari | 6 |
| 17 | Pastor Maldonado (Ven) | Williams-Renault | 1 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas (Fin)* | Williams-Renault | 0 |
| 19 | Jules Bianchi (Fra)* | Marussia-Cosworth | 0 |
| 20 | Charles Pic (Fra) | Caterham-Renault | 0 |
| 21 | Giedo van der Garde (Ned)* | Caterham-Renault | 0 |
| 22 | Max Chilton (Gbr)* | Marussia-Cosworth | 0 |
Constructors' Championship
| P | Team | Points |
| 01 | Red Bull-Renault | 513 (11 wins) |
| 02 | Mercedes | 334 (3 wins) |
| 03 | Ferrari | 323 (2 wins) |
| 04 | Lotus-Renault | 297 (1 win) |
| 05 | McLaren-Mercedes | 95 |
| 06 | Force India-Mercedes | 77 |
| 07 | Sauber-Ferrari | 45 |
| 08 | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 32 |
| 09 | Williams-Renault | 1 |
| 10 | Marussia-Cosworth | 0 |
| 11 | Caterham-Renault | 0 |
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