Vettel's situation was a forlorn one when his Red Bull suffered a blown engine in Korea three weeks ago, handing victory on a plate to Fernando Alonso that left the German trailing by 25 points with two races remaining.Three years ago Räikkönen's hopes were hanging by a thinner thread as he trailed Lewis Hamilton by 17 points with only 20 up for grabs.
But the Finn went on to remarkably win the title by a point as he took the chequered flag in the last two races, whilst Hamilton suffered problems in both that left him crushed.
On this occasion Vettel, too, managed to win the final two grands prix, following up his success in Brazil with a second successive victory under the lights in Abu Dhabi.
Going into Sunday's race all Alonso needed to do was cover any potential Vettel victory with fourth place, but Ferrari's abysmal tactics saw him finish seventh, and four points adrift of the German.
"Prior to the race I was thinking about Kimi's situation," said Vettel, who takes the title at 23 years 135 days beating Hamilton's 2008 record by 166 days.
"Whether you like Kimi or not - some people do, some people don't - but I faced a little bit of a similar situation.
"Obviously we were in a stronger position in terms of how many points were missing.
"But if you know Kimi, you know the one big advantage he has is that he just does his own thing, which was my target all weekend long.
"What he achieved three years ago was very special because no one thought it was possible.
"He proved us wrong, but the circumstances were special, the same as with me."
In the immediate aftermath of his triumph, Vettel initially claimed he was "speechless", only to subsequently open his heart.
Vettel's words were certainly heartfelt as he proceeded to thank a variety of people with a speech that was Oscar-like in its depth.
Overall, there was unsurprising pride at joining the list of the all-time greats, adding: "We have one guy in the team who knows all the World Champions of every year since 1950.
"Just ask him the year and he gives you the World Champion, so to be on that list now with drivers like (Ayrton) Senna and Michael (Schumacher), those two guys, I mean...I don't know.
"I'm just happy to put my name down on the list."
Vettel now possesses every significant age record in the sport as he is also the youngest to score points; lead a race; qualify on pole; win a grand prix.
It is an astonishing compilation, and who is to say he cannot now go on to beat many of the records of seven-times Champion and 91-times grands prix winner Schumacher.
In adding the Drivers' title to the Constructors' Championship won last week in Brazil, team principal Christian Horner was naturally overwhelmed and ebullient.
"The first time Sebastian has led the Championship is at the last race of the year, but arguably it's the only time you need to lead it," said Horner.
"He's stuck with it though this year, he's had some tough times and he's had his issues with reliability here and there, but he's never lost his focus.
"He's the youngest ever World Champion and a very deserving World Champion.
"It's down to what he's done on the circuit, and the whole team is hugely proud of what he's achieved."
Source: Planet-F1
