Imperious... F1 champion Sebastian Vettel raises his arms after winning the Brazilian GP.Imperious... F1 champion Sebastian Vettel raises his arms after winning the Brazilian GP.

Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday to chalk up a record ninth victory in a row and 13th of the year.

Australian team-mate Mark Webber bowed out of Formula One with second place, anchoring a Red Bull one-two in his 215th and final race for the champions before heading to Le Mans sportscars with Porsche.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, this season’s overall-runner-up, finished third on a day when the skies over Interlagos failed to deliver the rain that had forced delays to qualifying on Saturday.

Vettel is the first Formula One driver to win nine successive races in a single season although Italian Alberto Ascari strung together nine in a row over two campaigns in 1952-53.

“Guys, I am so proud of you. I love you. Remember this, enjoy this moment. Yes. We did it. This is unbelievable,” the 26-year-old German said, his voice wavering over the team radio after he took the chequered flag.

Vettel’s victory equalled compatriot Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record with Ferrari of 13 wins in a season.

“I am actually quite sad that this season is coming to an end,” he said in a podium interview after he and Alonso had doused Webber, who ends the year third in the championship, with champagne.

Vettel and Red Bull had secured their fourth successive drivers’ and constructors’ titles in India last month.

Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion and last before Vettel, finished fourth for McLaren – a result that rescued the team from suffering their worst season since their debut in 1966 even if they failed to stand on the podium at any point in 2013.

Nico Rosberg was fifth for Mercedes, who end the championship as overall runners-up and six points ahead of Ferrari.

Mexican Sergio Perez was sixth, after starting 19th following a five place grid penalty, in his final appearance for McLaren with his future uncertain.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, angry and incredulous after being handed a drive-through penalty, brought down the curtains on eight years as a Ferrari driver with seventh place in front of his home fans.

Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton was ninth and was also handed a drive-through penalty for a coming together with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas that left the Briton limping back to the pits with a puncture while the Williams shed a rear tyre and retired.

Marussia won the battle with Malaysian-owned Caterham for 10th place in the constructors’ championship – a position with considerable financial implications for both with only the top 10 getting a share of the revenues.

Result at Interlagos

1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1:32:36.300
2. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull +00:10.452
3. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 00:18.913
4. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 00:37.360
5. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 00:39.048
6. Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 00:44.051
7. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:49.110
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Sauber 01:04.252
9. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 01:12.903
10. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1 lap
11. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 1 lap
12. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 1 lap
13. Adrian Sutil (Germany Force India 1 lap
14. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus 1 lap
15. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1 lap
16. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1 lap
17. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia 2 laps
18. Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham 2 laps
19. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia 2 laps
r. Charles Pic (France) Caterham 13 laps
r. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 26 laps
r. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 69 laps

Fastest lap: Mark Webber 1:15.436, lap 51.

Drivers’ standings (final)
1. Vettel 397; 2. Alonso 242; 3. Webber 199; 4. Hamilton 189; 5. Raikkonen 183; 6. Rosberg 171; 7. Grosjean 132; 8. Massa 112; 9. Button 73; 10. Hulkenberg 51; 11. Perez 49; 12. Di Resta 48; 13. Sutil 29; 14. Ricciardo 20; 15. Vergne 13; 16. Gutierrez 6; 17. Bottas 4; 18. Maldonado 1.

Constructors
1. Red Bull 596; 2. Mercedes 360; 3. Ferrari 354; 4. Lotus 315; 5. McLaren 122; 6. Force India 77; 7. Sauber 57; 8. Toro Rosso 33; 9. Williams 5.

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