Vettel 'in another category'

Nov.5 (GMM) The international press is running out of superlatives to describe Sebastian Vettel's meteoric rise to Formula One greatness.

With memories of podium booing still fresh, the jury had been out on the 26-year-old's recent successes in Adrian Newey-inked Red Bulls.

But his dominance in the second half of 2013, culminating in his near-unprecedented seventh win on the trot in Abu Dhabi last Sunday, has finally won German Vettel an undoubted wave of respect.

"Like Schumacher, Vettel is insatiable," said the respected Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Perfect, unassailable, invincible. It's as though he's in another category."

Another major sports daily, Corriere dello Sport, agreed: "Although he has conquered his fourth title, Vettel shows no signs of fatigue or a lack of motivation."

Italy's biggest daily La Repubblica added: "For Vettel, the track seems shorter, the corners smoother -- he drives like a prima ballerina dances, with elegance and strength."

Corriere della Sera continued: "Vettel is a voracious master, using a racetrack created just for him, with an enemy badly under pressure from such a phenomenon."

Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz said this week: "Sebastian is a talent of the century.

"But the extreme cohesion and outstanding performance of the whole team was also exceptional," he told Austrian television Servus TV.