Greater Noida: It is hard to stop an emotional Sebastian Vettel from speaking his heart out and the German did just that after zooming to his fourth straight world title at the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix on Sunday.
"It (India) is a pretty special place to the win the championship," said Vettel at the media interaction after taking a deep pause.
The 26-year-old leaned towards the champagne and quenched his thirst before reflecting further on his stupendous achievement of becoming the youngest four-time world champion and the only one to be crowned four times in a row after Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.
"Winning the title in Brazil last year was special too. It was a crazy race. But to win in a place like this will stay with me forever. The place teaches you so much," said Vettel, who enjoyed his success with Indian fans, doing a 'doughnut' after crossing the chequered flag before bowing to his Red Bull.
The Heppenheim-born driver could not stop raving about India when he won the inaugural race in 2011 and this time too it was no different.
"It is human nature to complain and especially as a German you tend to do that a lot. It would be frightening to see the problems faced by the people of this country and yet they don't seem to complain. They are all happy. I know it is a huge country but I hope I get the time to explore it," he said.
With Vettel's domination in the last four seasons, he has already been compared to the likes of Schumacher, Fangio and Alain Prost. The same question was asked yet again.
"Well I don't know. I think I am way too young to think about what I have done. May be when I retire and I am 60, I will think about that. People might not remember me till then but I will surely reflect on these days.
"But in the recent times, racing against Fernando (Alonso), Mark (Webber) and Lewis (Hamilton). They all are exceptionally fast. I remember watching Fernando win championships and now he has been my fiercest competitor."
Asked who he was talking to before stepping into the room, Vettel said: "I was talking to my parents. I really have to thank them. For the support I have got from them ever since I started doing karting."
What about the boos he had to endure despite being the fastest driver?
"It was not an easy season, even though people from the outside had the idea we had it in our hands. It was a difficult one all in all. It was very difficult for me personally to receive boos even though I hadn't done anything wrong. To overcome that, and give my answers on the track, makes me very proud," summed up Vettel.
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