‘Vettel stepped it up a gear’

Not for the first time this season Christian Horner has been singing the praises of Seb Vettel after he claimed a commanding win in Abu Dhabi…

Not for the first time this season Christian Horner has been singing the praises of Seb Vettel after he claimed a commanding win in Abu Dhabi.

The reigning World Champ, who secured his fourth World title last time out in India, was in a class of his own around the Yas Marina circuit on Sunday.

Taking the lead into the first corner, Vettel claimed a lights to flag victory by more than 30 seconds over his team-mate Mark Webber.

It was the German’s seventh successive race win and saw him move to within two wins of the record.

“I think Sebastian has stepped it up another gear,” said team boss Horner.

“Times are very different. We are all on a standard tyre now, there is no testing and we are limited on how many engines we can have, so it is a much more even playing field (than in the past)].

“It is always difficult to compare generations to generations but, at the level he is performing, I don’t have words to describe how phenomenal he is.”

However, it wasn’t just Horner who was in awe of the German’s performance.

His team-mate Webber also hailed Vettel’s “mind-blowing” achievement.

“It was truly impressive, absolutely mind-blowing in many respects,” he said.

“After the start, Seb just got his head down and disappeared. He had the longevity and at no point did he look under any threat.

“He won by a very dominant margin that could have been even greater in the end if he hadn’t managed the pace after the second pit stop. It is truly dominant. He has just hit a patch of form which is incredible.

“We know Mark Webber is a very fine racing driver and, in a race which didn’t have any safety cars or issues, to achieve what he has done is quite mind-blowing. It is really impressive to witness.”