

As late as the Thursday morning of the 2007 United States Grand Prix, Vettel wasn't going to be racing. Reserve driver for BMW-Sauber, he was though on alert - Robert Kubica's massive crash in Canada just four days earlier meant the Pole had to be medically cleared before he could compete.

Having escaped with only bruises and a sprained ankle, Kubica insisted he was 100 percent ready. The doctors, however, saw it differently. Vettel was in.

"For him [Vettel] it is a great opportunity," Kubica told the media. "I am sure he will use it well."

And so he did.

While not exactly a newcomer to F1 machinery - Vettel had driven for BMW-Sauber in seven FP1 sessions prior to Indianapolis - he was new to the circuit, with two laps by foot his only first-hand experience. At the end of the first session he was fourth fastest; by the end of Saturday he had made it into Q3, winding up seventh, just half a second and two spots off new team mate Nick Heidfeld.

"Towards the end I could have been a bit better, but making it into qualifying three was already a big step," Vettel reflected afterwards. "I shall sleep better tonight because last night I had the unknown ahead about what will happen."