Ranking every Sebastian Vettel season

I did Lewis and Fernando so it's only right to do another icon of the era is Sebastian Vettel. Such a legend of the sport and so many good seasons too! But there's a clear battle between 2 for the top spot... let's see the ranking!

16. 2020

Yeah we start off with a pretty bad one... even though the SF1000 was a literal hoover Leclerc dogwalked him this year. Only P13 in the WDC with 33 points and 1 3rd place in Turkey is shocking (but at least he got a podium when Lewis won the 7th :) ) but seriously this was a terrible season for him with basically only two good races: Turkey to get a podium with a great last lap overtake and Spain where he made his own strategy (lol) to come P6.

15. 2022

I mean I can't really blame him for his last F1 season, he was basically already checked out by this point. He missed the first two races of the season with COVID (? I might be wrong) and the AMR22 was only able to fight for points in the second half of the year. Imola, Baku, Silverstone and Hungary this year were good performances I remember but he got outqualified by Stroll and only finished P12 in the WDC with 37 points.

14. 2021

I forgot how bad the first 4 races were with Aston! But he had a great Monaco drive to come P5 and then of course the podium in Baku was really cool (crazy race BTW). Hungary as well was a great drive (I know he got DSQ'd but it counts in my head!) but honestly he was probably still not at his best here. He had those standout performances but not consistent enough, and still only P12 in the WDC with 43 points.

13. 2014

On paper this season is not too bad. 4 podiums, P5 in the WDC with 167 points. But it's the fact that he was the reigning 4 time F1 champion, and the way Danny Ric beat him... wow it was crazy. He just didn't adapt to the new era of cars this year very well, and it's especially bad considering it was Ricciardo's first season at a top team like Red Bull. Japan and Spain were good drives though, and Singapore is always good for Seb. He just went backwards too much from his quali positions at times and the teammate thing will always ruin this year.

12. 2007

This barely counts as a season, because he made his F1 debut at the US GP for BMW Sauber after Kubica's massive accident in Canada. He had a very composed drive to get a point there. He was then put in the Toro Rosso for half a season after Scott Speed was kicked out. He almost got a podium at Fuji before he collided with Webber and he got an amazing P4 in China. So the sample size is small but this was still a promising rookie campaign from him. (Also holds the record for quickest penalty in an F1 career - 6 seconds into it!)

11. 2019

Once again this wasn't a bad season from Seb. 9 podiums and a well taken win in Singapore is good. But once again the expectations were higher. Being beaten by Leclerc in his first season in Ferrari (and only 2nd season in F1) is disappointing. But drives like Singapore and Germany (P2 from last on the grid!!!) showed that the quality was still there. This one is low kind of like 2014, because he got beaten by a much less experienced teammate. And I just think he had less pace compared to others that year.

10. 2016

I forgot how disappointing Ferrari were in 2016. They won no races and fell to 3rd in the WCC after a decent 2015. Seb was still good in the limited car however. He got 7 podiums, 212 points and P4 in the WDC. So a very good season still, and another really awesome drive at Singapore (P5 from P22 on the grid!). Still haven't forgiven him for backing off of Rosberg though.

9. 2008

What a year in his first full season in F1!! P8 in the WDC with 35 points, that crazily meant Toro Rosso finished ahead of Red Bull that season!!! And it was all down to this man. One of the craziest pole to win conversions at Monza in a wet race, and he still holds the record for the youngest pole sitter!. Brazil, Belgium, Canada and Monaco were also really impressive performances. Amazing season.

8. 2009

He was promoted to the senior team for the next season and the car was amazing. The 2009 - 2011 Red Bull is one of my favourite onboards of the era to watch. This was a really good season though - 8 podiums and 4 wins, P2 in the WDC with 84 points. China, Silverstone and Japan were all dominant drives from pole. Brazil was also a good one overtaking through the field to get P4 from 15th on the grid. A few mistakes like in Australia and Turkey mean that this can't be too high, but an impressive first season in a title-challenging car.

7. 2018

12 podiums and 5 wins was a good return in a close title fight with Mercedes. It really looked like Ferrari were going to do it in the first half of 2018! His wins at Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Silverstone and Belgium were all awesome results. P2 in the WDC with 320 points is really good, but sadly the mistakes at France, Hockenheim and Monza cost him here.

6. 2015

This was Seb's most underrated season. The only non-Mercedes driver to win races in 2015, his first season with Ferrari. 13 podiums and 3 wins, finishing P3 in the WDC with 278 points was fantastic. There's certainly an argument that he was the best driver that year, and this has to be one of his best years in F1. He got the almost maximum out of the car each race.

5. 2017

His best non-championship season. The way he started the year was sensational: 3 wins and 2 P2's in the first 6 races. He didn't finish out of the points until the Singapore crash, and he was amazing all year long. He really made Mercedes sweat, and this should have probably been the title he won with Ferrari. 5 wins and 13 podiums, finishing P2 in the WDC with 317 points was fantastic.

4. 2012

His weakest championship year would still be the best for most drivers: winning his 3rd consecutive title with 281 points. He started off the season slow but was fantastic at the end. 5 wins and 10 podiums in such a close season is really good, but he gets bonus points for the way he closed it out. Winning 4 races in a row at the end really cemented himself in that title fight, and under so much pressure too! He had a good win at Bahrain earlier in the season and probably my favourite ever Seb drive at Abu Dhabi, starting from the pitlane to finish on the podium. Imo he doesn't get the credit he deserves for this one!

3. 2010

His first title in F1 was a stroke of genius too - getting 256 points, 5 wins and 10 podiums. And he was really unlucky as well - reliability issues cost him big points at Bahrain, Australia and Korea. He was 4th in the championship with 4 races to go - 21 points behind the leader. He then won 3 of the next 4 races to take the title in dramatic fashion at Abu Dhabi. An amazing season and again, the composure at the death of such a close title fight is sensational stuff. Still the youngest world champion in F1 history too.

2. 2013

Vettel and the RB9 was a crazy duo. I know this is controversial putting this second, but let's appreciate the season first: 16 podiums (!), with 13 wins (!!!!) and 9 wins in a row (!!!!!!!!) in the last 9 races of the season, to clinch his 4th consecutive WDC with 397 points. The domination was crazy. But I just can't put it above 2011 because of the first half of the year when it was actually close, before Pirelli changed the compounds after Silverstone. That's literally all. This is still one of the best F1 seasons in history though.

1. 2011

People don't talk about this season enough. Like seriously. 11 race wins, 17 podiums, another world title with 392 points. This might be my favourite F1 car - the blown exhaust diffuser RB7. It's so so quick and the grip is crazy! Seb literally had a Schumacher 2002-esque season here - finishing only 2 races off the podium. He also still holds the record for most pole positions in an F1 season here, with 15! Not even the Red Bull in 2023 could beat that! Seb was unstoppable here.