Vettel quietly goes about business of closing on Schumacher record

Vettel enjoyed the perfect race, achieving the sport’s grand chelem – grand slam – of pole, race win, fastest lap and leading every single lap.

The 24-year-old German is now just two victories shy of equalling a record many thought would never be touched – that of Michael Schumacher’s 2004 campaign when he enjoyed 13 wins.

On a hot, dusty and bittersweet afternoon at the new Buddh International Circuit in front of 95,000 spectators, Vettel temporarily blinded technical guru Adrian Newey with champagne during the podium celebrations, and the champion was typically modest about his achievements.

“It was a very good race,” he said. “I enjoyed the time in the lead, I had a little bit of a fight with Jenson who strangely kept closing in at the pit stops. All in all it was a very smooth race, the car was well balanced.”

Before the race, teams and drivers held a minute’s silence, standing still on the grid in memory of double Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon and MotoGP showman Marco Simoncelli who were killed in races last week.