Red Bull Motorsports
F1
Sebastian Vettel races to 1st win for Red Bull Racing at the F1 Chinese GP
How Sebastian Vettel earned a first-ever win in Formula One for Red Bull Racing.
A treacherous wet afternoon which transformed the Shanghai International Circuit into a bit of an aquaplaning nightmare also turned out to be the day that Red Bull racing came of age in Formula One, as Sebastian Vettel’s brilliance saw him earn a first-ever win for the team at the Chinese Grand Prix.
In his third race since being debuting for the Red Bull team in 2009, after already having become the youngest-ever Grand Prix winner at 21 years and 74 days the previous year with Toro Rosso, Vettel delivered an immaculate performance that once again belied his youth to lead home his team-mate Mark Webber.
Wet conditions made the track treacherous
© Clive Mason/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
"It's unbelievable, I'm so, so happy. It was an extremely difficult race, because there was a lot of standing water, with some rivers and even some lakes! Cars were going off, and the team was telling me by radio 'be careful, be careful’,” beamed an ecstatic Vettel after a weekend which had also seen him achieve his second career pole – another first for his new team.
Yet though he made it look like a breeze, of course Vettel’s victory didn't come without its trials on a day when, due to the downpours, the safety car had not only to be employed over the first eight laps of the race but also recalled on the 20th lap after one of a series of collisions and crashes in the difficult conditions left debris strewn around the track.
It was Vettel's second win, but the first for Red Bull Racing
© Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
A lap later, Vettel negotiated a hairy moment when Toro Rosso's Sébastien Buemi nudged into the back of his car, but after surviving that mishap, there never seemed any doubt about the winner.
For Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, in the fifth year for his team, tasting victory at this 74th attempt felt sweet.
And as for young Vettel, he couldn’t stop smiling. Asked how he was going to celebrate the historic win, he laughed: “My flight is tomorrow, so I have basically all night left – and Red Bull knows how to party!"
