Championship record
3
World titles
4
1
Runner-up
3
6
Top-3 finishes
8
P1
Best championship
P1
Career totals
Nelson Piquet
Sebastian Vettel
Championships
3
4
Wins
23
53
Poles
24
57
Podiums
60
122
Fastest laps
0
38
Career points
485.5
3,098
Starts
205
300
Rate-adjusted · per start
Nelson Piquet
Sebastian Vettel
Win rate
11.2%
17.7%
Podium rate
29.3%
40.7%
Pole rate
11.7%
19%
Points / start
2.4
10.3
Avg grid
P6.7
P6.3
Avg finish
P9.8
P7.1
Finish rate
61%
88%
Rates reward peak form; totals reward longevity. Avg grid/finish: lower is better.
On-track overtaking
Nelson Piquet
Sebastian Vettel
Overtakes
0
2,126
Overtakes / race
0.0
7.3
Places lost
0
1,897
Sum of lap-by-lap positions gained on track — start lap and own pit laps excluded.
Only races with lap data count, so the per-race figure is the fair comparison across eras.
Why they retired
Nelson Piquet
Sebastian Vettel
Mechanical retirements
51
20
Crash retirements
28
15
Classified from the finishing status. Mechanical covers car failures, crash covers accidents, collisions and damage — fewer is better on both.
Retirements with an unclear cause: 1 · 1
Milestones & racecraft
1978
Debut season
2007
1980 · aged 27
First win
2008 · aged 21
1980
First pole
2008
1981 · aged 29
First title
2010 · aged 23
P1
Best finish
P1
-3.1
Avg places gained
-0.7
Season points trajectory
Nelson Piquet
Sebastian Vettel
Final points each season — scoring systems changed over the eras.
Track by track
| Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Sebastian Vettel |
|---|---|---|
| W · Pod · Best | W · Pod · Best | |
| Autodromo Nazionale di Monza | 3 · 4 · P1 | 3 · 6 · P1 |
| Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | 3 · 5 · P1 | 2 · 6 · P1 |
| Suzuka Circuit | 1 · 1 · P1 | 4 · 8 · P1 |
| Hungaroring | 2 · 3 · P1 | 2 · 7 · P1 |
| Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 0 · 1 · P3 | 3 · 6 · P1 |
| Hockenheimring | 3 · 3 · P1 | 0 · 2 · P2 |
| Autódromo José Carlos Pace | 0 · 0 · P5 | 3 · 5 · P1 |
| Circuit de Monaco | 0 · 3 · P2 | 2 · 7 · P1 |
| Silverstone Circuit | 0 · 2 · P2 | 2 · 5 · P1 |
| Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari | 2 · 4 · P1 | 0 · 0 · P8 |
| Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | 0 · 0 · P11 | 1 · 5 · P1 |
| Circuit Paul Ricard | 1 · 4 · P1 | 0 · 0 · P5 |
| Circuit Park Zandvoort | 1 · 3 · P1 | 0 · 0 · P13 |
| Nürburgring | 0 · 1 · P3 | 1 · 2 · P1 |
| Red Bull Ring | 0 · 4 · P2 | 0 · 2 · P2 |
| Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez | 0 · 1 · P2 | 0 · 2 · P2 |
| Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours | 0 · 0 · P8 | 0 · 0 · P12 |
Team history
Nelson Piquet
McLaren 1978Brabham 1978Ensign 1978Brabham-Ford 1979Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1979Brabham 1980–1985Williams 1986–1987Team Lotus 1988–1989Benetton 1990–1991
Sebastian Vettel
19782022
Basis
Head-to-head counts races where both drivers were classified, compared by final position (post-penalty). Teammate section counts only seasons in the same car. Career totals mirror the source data. Data: Jolpica-F1 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).