Vettel had title in bag as season started

Sebastian Vettel, the youngest-ever pole sitter, points scorer, race winner and world champion, is about to make us all feel very old again by becoming the youngest to win back-to-back titles.
To put that in perspective, when I was 24 I was still struggling to keep my mum's pistachio green, 1.2l VW Polo on the road!

It has been some season for Vettel and a win could put him into the elite group of just eight men to land consecutive titles, names such as Fangio, Senna and, of course, a certain Michael Schumacher. Not bad company to keep.

Whether or not Seb does it here in Singapore this weekend, there is no doubt in my mind he will be world champion in 2011. But just how has he gone about it? First of all, qualifying. Saturdays have always been important in a sport where overtaking is difficult.

The trick to making your race easier is to start at the front and Seb has done that with punishing regularity. Ten of the 13 races have seen him at the front. At times, just as it looked like his domination was about to be broken, he put in an electric lap almost a second ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber. Demoralising for his rivals but utterly impressive.

However, there are no points for dominating qualifying. Quite regularly Seb's car has been fast in qualifying but slower than the rest in the race.

In those instances, he has learned to run and hide. Allow the others behind to scrap and squabble while you serenely deliver the lap times, pumping in perfect performances lap after lap, just out of reach of those behind you. He has done it race after race. What about those who say Seb can't overtake and that his car is so fast he just stays out front and maintains the gap? I point those people firstly towards his team-mate, who has an identical car but hasn't managed it.

Then I bring up the last race in Monza, where Seb had to overtake Fernando Alonso to save his race. He did so in style by putting two wheels on the grass and risking all.

He has had a little bit of luck, too, having finished every race and avoided being taken out by a rival or an unlucky moment. Admittedly, he has not had to start races in the notoriously tight and dangerous midfield. However, when he has been under pressure, in Monaco, for example, a crash, a safety car and the chance to put on fresh tyres saved his race and gave him the win.

And, finally, there's consistency. Being Seb's team-mate must be the worst job in F1. He has led Webber for 91 per cent of the races, a stunning 710 of the 778 racing laps. He has failed to win on only five occasions and in four of those races he finished second.

So, incredible belief, a sprinkling of luck and a great car have all contributed to a stunningly exciting season only tainted slightly by his dominance since race one in Australia.

And what has impressed me most? The fact that before the season started, just one driver visited Pirelli to see how the new tyres were made, how they'd operate and what a driver would need to do to make them work to his advantage.

Guess who that man was?

Follow me on Twitter @jakehumphreyf1