If Sebastian Vettel hangs on to the drivers’ world championship trophy at the end of 2012, he will be only the third driver in the sport’s history with a title hat-trick.<\/p>\n
Eight drivers have won three or more championships in total, but only Michael Schumacher (2000-2004) and Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1957) won more than two on the trot.<\/p>\n
Names including Prost, Lauda, Senna and Alonso all failed.<\/p>\n
“My guess is that he (Vettel) really can do it again,” Bernie Ecclestone told F1’s official website.\u00a0 “What points against it?\u00a0 I think anything else would be the surprise.”<\/p>\n
So what does the 24-year-old German think about the chances of a treble?<\/p>\n
“That only two or three had done it before, I was not aware,” he is quoted by SID news agency.<\/p>\n
“All good things come in threes.\u00a0 Of course it would be great, but there’s a long way to go and we stay patient and keep the feet on the floor.”<\/p>\n
The 2012 field, however, appears closer than in 2011, and the Red Bull perhaps not as dominant.<\/p>\n
“To say that everything is perfect would be a lie, because we have some problems to solve,” admitted Vettel ahead of the 2012 season opener in Australia.<\/p>\n
“It will only be possible to make a true assessment of our performance and the performance of the others this weekend.”<\/p>\n
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