Sebastian Vettel (German pronunciation: [zeˈbasti̯a(ː)n ˈfɛtl̩] (listen); born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin. Vettel is one of the most successful drivers in Formula One history and has won four World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from 2010 to 2013. Vettel holds the record for being the youngest World Champion in Formula One. He also has the third-most race victories (53) and podium finishes (122), and fourth-most pole positions (57).
Vettel started his Formula One career as a test driver for BMW Sauber in 2006, making a one-off racing appearance in 2007. As part of the Red Bull Junior Team, Vettel appeared for Toro Rosso later that year and was kept as a full-time driver for 2008. Vettel was promoted to Red Bull in 2009. With Red Bull, Vettel won four consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013, the first of which made him the sport's youngest World Champion. In 2013, he set the record for the most consecutive race wins with nine. Vettel signed for Ferrari for 2015 replacing Fernando Alonso and became Mercedes' and Lewis Hamilton's closest challenger in two title fights in 2017 and 2018, although he finished both years as runner-up. He parted ways with Ferrari at the end of the 2020 season to race with Aston Martin for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, before retiring from Formula One at the end of the 2022 season.
Vettel was born on 3 July 1987 in Heppenheim, West Germany, to Norbert and Heike Vettel. He has one younger brother, Fabian, a racing driver, and two older sisters: Melanie, a dental technician, and Stefanie, a physiotherapist for disabled children. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was "terrible" at school, but he passed his Abitur at Heppenheim's Starkenburg-Gymnasium [de] with a respectable grade. His childhood heroes were "The three Michaels": Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. He mentioned that he wanted to be a singer like Jackson, but realised that he did not have the voice. Vettel is also a fan of the Beatles, collecting several records, including Abbey Road and his favourite song being "Drive My Car". In an interview on Top Gear, he stated that he is a fan of British comedy such as Little Britain and Monty Python's Life of Brian. Vettel lives in Thurgovia, Switzerland, amongst other racing drivers and is a fan of German football team Eintracht Frankfurt. Vettel has described himself as competitive, private and impatient. He also appeared in advertisements for Head & Shoulders, and provided the voice of character Sebastian Schnell in the German dub of the 2011 film Cars 2, and a voice command assistant in the German and Italian dubs of the 2017 film Cars 3.

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