The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 67th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 64th FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Eleven teams and twenty-three drivers contested the nineteen Grands Prix that made up the calendar for the 2013 season,[1] with the winning driver being crowned the World Drivers' Champion and the winning team the World Constructors' Champions. The season started in Australia on 17 March 2013 and ended in Brazil on 24 November 2013.
The 2013 season was the final year the series used the 2.4-litre V8 engine configuration which was introduced in 2006 and for naturally-aspirated engines in general having been mandatory since 1989 as a 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid V6 engine formula came into force for 2014.[2]
Sebastian Vettel successfully defended his World Championship,[3] winning his fourth consecutive title in the fourth to last race of 2013. In doing so he became the third driver in Formula One's sixty-four years to win four consecutive World Drivers' Championships. It was one of the most dominant championship victories in the sport and the last won by a Red Bull driver until 2021 with Max Verstappen, it remains the last for a Renault-powered driver, as of 2024[update]. Vettel won the championship by a then-record 155 points, which was broken 10 years later by Max Verstappen. Vettel's 2013 season performance additionally saw him recognised by the Laureus World Sports Awards as the Sportsman of the Year, the second racing driver to be so recognised.[4] He became the fourth driver to win at least four titles along with Alain Prost, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.
Vettel tied Schumacher's season record of 13 race wins and closed out the year with nine consecutive victories.[5] 2013 would turn out to be the end of his title run, with Vettel remaining at four titles until his retirement in 2022. Fernando Alonso finished second in the championship for Ferrari for the third time in four seasons, which would also be the last time he would win a race or end up on the championship podium for at least nine years. Vettel's team Red Bull Racing, with the assistance of his teammate Mark Webber, successfully defended their World Constructors' Championship[6] at the same race as their lead driver secured his title.[7]
This was also the last year that the largely Constructors' Championship-based car numbering system introduced in 1996 was used. From 2014 drivers would be allowed to pick a permanent car number between 2 and 99 for their whole career.
- ^ Noble, Jonathan; Rencken, Dieter (21 September 2012). "Singapore GP: 2013 Formula 1 calendar revealed". Autosport. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
- ^ Strang, Simon (29 June 2011). "FIA rubber-stamps new 1.6-litre V6 engine plans to be introduced in 2014". Autosport. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
- ^ "Vettel is champion, Button wins thriller". Autosport. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ^ Rumsby, Ben (26 March 2014). "Laureus Awards: Sebastian Vettel named World Sportsman of the Year". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ^ Benson, Andrew (24 November 2013). "Sebastian Vettel wins record ninth consecutive race in Brazil". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ Collantine, Keith (18 November 2012). "Red Bull win third constructors' title in a row". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ "Sebastian Vettel clinches fourth straight world title". CNN. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.