Did Sebastian Vettel make history on the last day of the 2013 F1 season or did he finally come up short? Come with me below the fold to find out…

Sebastian Vettel ends season in record-setting fashion, Mark Webber bows out on the podium in Brazil

(Getty Images: Paul Gilham )

For the Brazilian Grand Prix, the last race of the year, World Champion Sebastian Vettel did what he has done for the last 8 races in a row and 12 other times this season: win. In the season finale, the German Red Bull ace was able to overcome a disastrous pit stop and still emerge victorious, tying him in the record books with 1950s great Alberto Ascari with 9 consecutive wins and his countryman Michael Schumacher for most wins in a season with an astounding 13. Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber finished up 2nd with a storming drive after being shuffled back to 5th on the opening lap. This was the big Australian’s last F1 race — he is leaving for Porsche’s new World Endurance prototype program next year — and fittingly he exited at the top of his form, moving up to 3rd overall in the Drivers’ standings with this strong result. But, as it has been since Vettel’s suprising last-day championship in 2010 in Abu Dhabi, he once again had to play second fiddle to his wunderkind teammate. It must be said, however, that this makes him no different than the rest of the field. In retrospect, that surprise championship was an ominous portent for any other driver who had title aspirations, as Vettel has greedily snapped up victories and championships in his utterly symbiotic Red Bull chassis in the years since. Perhaps no driver knows this sense of futility better than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, a former 2-time World Champion who has finished 2nd to Vettel in the Drivers’ points 3 of the past four years. Alonso had a very good drive in Brazil and came home 3rd but it remains to be seen whether he or anyone else can win another Championship in what now must called the “Vettel Era”.

Despite persistently damp conditions and intermittent drizzle, the rain never picked up enough at Interlagos for the switch to wet weather tires, which might have shaken up the results. After quick starts, the two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton could not match the pace of the Red Bulls or Ferraris. Rosberg’s persistent understeer issues probably cost him a podium and Hamilton, while looking fast enough for a top 5 finish, bounced off of Valtteri Bottas’ Williams, earning a drive through penalty. Hamilton was able to recover for 9th but this still cost him 3rd in the Drivers’ standings, while Rosberg kept it clean and picked up a 5th place finish. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, making his last drive for the Scuderia before his home crowd, also incurred a drive through penalty for crossing the white line at pit in during a racing lap, but was genuinely quick and able to salvage 7th.

McLaren finally had a great day, something almost never said about the storied team in 2013. Jenson Button had a brilliant drive utilizing his superior tire management skills and was able to come home 4th, while his outgoing teammate Sergio Perez was also excellent, finishing a strong 6th. In light of Perez’s sterling form to end the season the decision to dismiss the young Mexican from McLaren seems even more unfair and arbitray than it did when the news initially broke. Hopefully he can find another ride for next year because he is only 23 and has shown flashes of brilliance in his young career. (It now appears likely that Perez will get a drive with Force India next year).

Nico Hulkenberg continued to impress finishing 6th for Sauber  The German driver had a breakout season and it would be nice to see him continue to work with the improving Sauber team but many reports have him signing with Force India for 2014. Rounding out the top 10, Vettel’s future teammate Daniel Ricciardo grabbed the last point at 10th in his Torro Rosso. The flying Frenchman Romain Grosjean, who also had a fantastic career-making season for Lotus and had been on a good podium streak, blew his Renault engine on lap 3.

Top 10 finishers for the Brazilian Grand Prix here:

Complete results here at Formula1.com.

The final Constuctors’ results, which show a very impressive 2nd for Mercedes, outpacing their much more senior rivals Ferrari and McLaren:

And so all good things must come to an end and we bid adieu to F1 for 2013. That’s how you know winter has really arrived. Still, only a few months until the March 16th, 2014 opener in Melbourne and the debut of the new 1.6 liter V6 turbo engines. It’ll be here before you know it so hang in there during these few cold, dormant months, race fans!