Sebastian Vettel visited an Irish bar and belted out a karaoke version of “My Way” as he celebrated his historic back-to-back Formula One world titles.
Vettel, 24, who became the youngest driver to win two championships in a row at Japan’s Suzuka circuit, admitted his team was “flying a little bit” as they toasted their success.
“Last night we were flying a little bit but I think that’s fine,” the Red Bull ace told a sponsor’s event in Yokohama yesterday.
“Can’t have too much because this week we’ll go straight to Korea. We got four more races in which we want to fight for victory and I’ll get the best we can, and after that we’ll focus on next year. But the level of the team is incredible.”
Vettel needed only one point to seal the championship with four races remaining, and he did it easily by finishing third behind McLaren’s Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.
He became Formula One’s ninth consecutive champion, joining the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna and German compatriot Michael Schumacher.
“You see all these double champions and big names, the names that I know for a long, long time,” Vettel said.
“Because I do like the history of Formula One, it’s a weird feeling.
“It’s difficult to understand, yes, now you’re part of them.”
“When you’re by yourself, with your face in a mirror and knowing that you can do it, it’s something very special. Seeing yourself in a way close to these guys is definitely something outstanding,” Vettel added.
“Sometimes you might not have made the right decisions and you might not have been the fairest guy and then you struggled to face yourself to be happy with what you see.”
But he said: “Looking into the mirror, knowing that we’ve done it our way and coming out on top, our feeling is in many ways unbeatable.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner hailed the young champion, even after sitting through his version of “Yellow Submarine” along with “My Way” at the Irish pub in rural Suzuka.
“What he has managed to achieve this year with the consistency he managed to maintain since the first race in Melbourne is absolutely phenomenal,” Horner said.
“He’s one of the most competitive heroes within Formula One.”