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“1 Million Jellybeans” – Sebastian Vettel Pokes Fun After Winning the First-Ever F1 Overtaking Award in Abu Dhabi

Published 12/13/2021, 9:56 AM EST

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via Reuters

Sebastian Vettel may not have won a race this season, but he did win one championship; the one for most overtakes in a season. Formula One introduced the new award in partnership with Crypto.com, which was the Crypto Overtake Award.

He edged out the likes of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen by a slim margin. This award showcased the four-time world champion’s ability to pounce on any given opportunity and pass his opponents.

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He finished the season with 134 overtakes to Alonso’s 132, with Raikkonen finishing in P3 with 127. He celebrated the feat by doing the customary end-of-season donuts at the end of the season.

In his cool-down lap, he did ask if he had secured the award. ” Did we win the overtaking award or not?” said Vettel. When his race engineer confirmed, he jokily asked, ” What’s the prize? One million jellybeans. Okay, thank you, guys.”

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I heard it’s a million dollars: Sebastian Vettel

As reported by Express. co. UK, the Aston Martin driver was unsure what he would get after winning the award. He joked he heard that the prize for winning the award was a million dollars.

“No! I heard it’s a million dollars! But I’m not sure, might just be rumors.” said Vettel.

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Alonso, before starting the race, had joked to start from the pit lane to win the Crypto.com Overtake award.

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“I saw that this morning, so yeah, that’s tempting, even to start from the pitlane or something, to make more passes. Let’s see!” said the Alpine driver.

Despite winning the overtaking award, Vettel would like to start higher on the grid and score more points. In his first year with the returning Aston Martin, he scored 43 points in the season. He would like to start the 2022 season strongly and make the team championship contenders in the future.

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Vettel has a contract with the team for the 2022 season with an option to extend. Let us see if he can guide the team in the right direction next season.

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Written by:

Devang Chauhan

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Devang Chauhan is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. Having completed his graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has a keen eye for writing engaging and detailed articles on F1. Previously a writer for Sports Social's 'Chase Your Sport' Magazine, Devang has been an ardent follower of the sport for over a decade and has attended two editions of the Indian Grand Prix.
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