Vettel beaming after the title: “I'm speechless”

Sebastian Vettel said he only found out he had won the 1 F2010 world champion title after crossing the finish line at the Abu Dhabi GP. The German from Red Bull won the race and the title thanks to the seventh and eighth places of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber who paid for less than optimal strategic choices.

“To be honest I didn't know anything,” said Vettel. "I imagined. In the last ten laps my engineer advised me, helping me bring the car to the finish line. I wondered why he was so nervous. I thought I was in a good position and he told me 'it looks good'. I didn't know what it meant. I concentrated on myself, then they shouted to me on the radio that we had won the world championship. I'm a bit speechless honestly, I don't know what should be said in these cases. It's incredible. I went to bed thinking about the race, what would happen. I imagined a little and had a good feeling.”

Vettel reflected on his ups and downs of the season: “We saw incredible battles and a close season,” he said. “I don't know how many times there has been a new leader. Some were given up quickly and instead returned to the fight, like Fernando, they came back strong. Lewis Hamilton returned and took the lead at one point. I could write a book talking about the races where we could have achieved more. There have been withdrawals, we all have had ups and downs. It was an intense and tough season, sometimes ignoring what people said and trying to do my best. This was my approach to the race and it worked. It was a difficult season for all of us, physically and above all mentally. I continued to believe in myself and today is a special day. So I only led the championship once, but when it mattered. For some reason I still haven't realized what happened. It's strange, I'll probably realize it when I go to bed or maybe when I wake up."