Sebastian Vettel lifted shoulder high by Nico Rosberg (left) and Romain Grosjean on the winners’ podium, yesterday.

Germany’s Sebastian Vettel roared into the record books as Formula One’s youngest four-times world champion after winning the Indian Grand Prix for the third year in a row yesterday.

The 26-year-old’s Red Bull team also took the constructors world championship for the fourth successive year.

“You’ve done it in style,” Red Bull principal Christian Horner shouted over the team radio as Vettel took the chequered flag with a massive 29.8-second lead over compatriot Nico Rosberg for Mercedes.

“Brilliant drive. You join the greats, mate. You’re up there.”

The victory from pole position was Vettel’s sixth in a row and completed a hat-trick in India where no other driver has won since the race made its debut on the calendar in 2011.

Vettel becames the fourth quadruple champion and only the third driver to land four titles in a row after Germany’s seven-times winner Michael Schumacher and the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.

The German celebrated by adding some tyre smoke to the haze hanging over the Buddh International Circuit, slowing the car on the pit straight and then spinning it around with some ‘donuts’ for the fans.

Red Bull were later fined €25,000 for failing to instruct their driver to return directly and park his car in the pit lane.

“How do I feel? I’m overwhelmed. One of the best days of my life so far,” Vettel said in a podium interview alongside Rosberg and third-placed Frenchman Romain Grosjean who had roared through from 17th on the grid for Lotus.

The boos that marked some of his earlier wins were absent yesterday, with the German’s title a foregone conclusion and the crowd happy to witness history in the making.

He had led Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the only man who could put his celebrations on hold, by 90 points before the start with three races remaining – worth a maximum 75 – after India.

Vettel now has 322 to Alonso’s 207.

Alonso needed to finish in the top two but his hopes evaporated at the start when he tagged the rear of Mark Webber’s Red Bull and had to pit for a new front wing before rejoining in 20th place.

Alonso finished out of the points in 11th spot while Webber, who led for much of the early part of the race after starting on the longer-lasting medium tyre, retired on lap 40 with an alternator problem.

Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen – 1:27.679, lap 60.
Next race: Abu Dhabi, November 3.

Drivers standings
1. Vettel 322; 2. Alonso 207; 3. Raikkonen 183; 4. Hamilton 169; 5. Webber 148; 6. Rosberg 144; 7. Grosjean 102; 8. Massa 102; 9. Button 60; 10. Di Resta 40; 11. Huelkenberg 39; 12. Perez 33; 13. Sutil 28; 14. Ricciardo 19; 15. Vergne 13; 16. Gutierrez 6; 17. Maldonado 1.

Constructors’ Championship
1. Red Bull 470; 2. Mercedes 313; 3. Ferrari 309; 4. Lotus 285; 5. McLaren 93; 6. Force India 68; 7. Sauber 45; 8. Toro Rosso 32; 9. Williams 1.

Multiple F1 Champions
Seven times – Schumacher.
Five times – Fangio.
Four times – Prost, Vettel.
Three times – Brabham, Stewart, Lauda, Piquet, Senna.
Two times – Ascari, Graham Hill, Clark, Fittipaldi, Hakkinen, Alonso.