I was quite emotional when I finished my lap, but had to wait for other drivers to cross the line to hear whether I'd actually done it. It feels very special, but I acknowledge that the old master, Nigel Mansell, took his 14 poles from only 16 races.

Vettel qualified in pole position ahead of his team-mate but suffered a puncture caused by driving wide off the track on the first lap of the race and fell to the tail of the field. At the Spanish Grand Prix his pole position streak ended as his KERS failed him during qualifying. Both had their first taste of racing at the Kerpen karting track near Cologne not far from the Nürburgring.

He followed up his first championship with a second in 2011 becoming the youngest double as well as youngest consecutive champion. In his first year driving for Red Bull in 2009 Vettel finiSebastian Vetteld the season as the youngest-ever World Drivers' championship runner-up. He is the current World Champion having won the championship in 2010 2011 and 2012.