Born in Germany, Sebastian Vettel is one of the new young hotshots in Formula One.
He started as BMW's test driver from the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix onwards and made his Formula One race debut when he drove for the German team at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. Vettel was called upon to stand in for the injured Robert Kubica.
That race weekend saw Vettel set a few F1 records when he became the sixth youngest driver to start a grand prix and the youngest driver to score points in a World Championship point. He finished the race in eighth place.
Vettel returned to his role at test driver the next day for BMW, however, it wasn't long before he was back racing after signing a deal with the Scuderia Toro Rosso outfit to replace Scott Speed.
The German driver made his STR debut on the 2007 Hungarian GP and almost scored Toro Rosso's first podium finish at the Japanese GP in September. However a crash with Mark Webber brought an end to that dream.
He did, howeve, redeem himself one race later when he claimed fourth place at the Chinese GP - earning Toro Rosso their best result ever.
Vettel remained with Toro Rosso in 2008 where he partnered ChampCar Champion Sebastien Bourdais, although it was his team-mate who had the better results in the opening stint, it was Vettel who came to the fore with the introduction of the STR3.
The German soon began putting in results many predicted were beyond the car's capabilities, including pole position and the victory at a wet Italian Grand Prix.
It was a moment that sealed Vettel's description as a future F1 World Champion and landed him a Red Bull race-seat for the 2009 Championship.
