Sebastian Vettel poised to make Formula One history

Sebastian Vettel hopes to join only two other drivers in Formula One history by winning his third consecutive championship Sunday at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

After finishing second in the U.S. Grand Prix last Sunday in Austin, Texas, Vettel holds a 13-point lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso as Formula One wraps up its season at the Interlagos track south of downtown Sao Paulo.

If Vettel wins the title, the 25-year-old German driver for the Red Bull team would join Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as the only drivers to earn three straight Formula One championships.

“We’ve been very quick in Brazil the last couple of years, so plenty to look forward to,” Vettel said after the U.S. Grand Prix. Vettel is a past winner in Brazil, having taken the checkered flag in 2010 on the way to his first title.

The Brazilian race also will mark the last Formula One race, again, for Schumacher. The record seven-time champion, who came out of his first retirement in 2010 to join the Mercedes GP team, is leaving the series again at age 43.

And Hamilton, the 2008 champion who won the U.S. Grand Prix last weekend, will drive his final race for McLaren on Sunday before he moves to the Mercedes GP team in 2013.

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