Sebastian Vettel’s father insists his son deserves his recent success in formula one.
The 24-year-old is on the cusp of becoming the sport’s youngest ever back-to-back world champion.
But some observers still question the young German’s wheel-to-wheel talents and give more credit to Adrian Newey, the designer of the dominant Red Bull cars of the last few seasons.
"I hear it over and over again, ’Vettel only wins because he has the best car’," his father Norbert told the Swiss Sunday newspaper Sonntagsblick.
"But first you have to get into the best car, and Seb worked hard for it."
The Cologne tabloid said that, despite Vettel’s superstitions, Red Bull has manufactured special caps and t-shirts to mark his title victory at Suzuka this weekend.