Sebastian Vettel Makes his Formula One Racing Debut at Hungary in 2007

Published 08/03/2019, 7:40 AM EDT

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Sebastian Vettel has come a long way since entering Formula One as a fresh-faced youngster in 2007. The German rookie was a reserve driver for BMW Sauber at the time and even raced for them at the US Grand Prix after Robert Kubica’s horror crash in Canada a round earlier.

However, he was soon inducted into the Red Bull Driver academy and was drafted into the Toro Rosso team in Hungary. His promotion was the result of a falling out between the team and American driver, Scott Speed. Speed was then sacked and Vettel replaced him for the rest of the year. The young German went on to finish 16th, while teammate, Vitantonio Liuzzi retired with an electrical issue.

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In just his 6th race for the team, he took a career best position of 4th at the Chinese GP. A year later, he would be inducted into the team on a full-time basis and saw out the season with them. He would reward the team with a shock pole in the soggy conditions at Monza, later winning the race.

Now, 12 years after his debut, Sebastian Vettel is racing for the Scuderia Ferrari team in 2019. In addition to that, he is also a 4-time Formula One world champion, having won them with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013.

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Speaking of Red Bull, he joined the sister team in 2009, partnering Mark Webber and together, they led the Bulls to glory. After the rules overhaul of 2009, Red Bull catapulted from the midfield to become one of the front-runners alongside newcomers Brawn GP. When Mercedes joined the fray in 2010, Red Bull were the front-runners and ran riot. However, when the rules were changed again, this time, it was Mercedes, turn and Red Bull were brushed aside.

Sebastian Vettel soon joined Ferrari, in search of greener pastures, but so far, has not been able to mount a serious challenge.

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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