Vettel is potentially a week away from winning his fourth successive Formula One world title after another cruise in South Korea. Despite two safety car periods, Vettel managed to keep his rivals at bay again to claim his fourth win in a row this season and the 34th of his F1 career.
Closest title rival Fernando Alonso could do no better than sixth in his Ferrari, meaning there is now a 77-point gap between the 32-year-old Spaniard and 26-year-old German.
Should Vettel take the chequered flag in next Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix and Alonso is ninth or worse, the former will again be cracking open the title-winning champagne. That will put Vettel in the same bracket as Fangio and Schumacher, the only other drivers to claim four consecutive championships, with the latter the record holder with five in a row.
Asked whether Vettel was one of the best drivers of all time, Horner said: “He has to be right up there. The level he is performing at is unbelievable in many respects.
“We know Mark (team-mate Webber) is a very talented and quick racing driver and matching him against that, he has been hugely impressive.
“What has been impressive is he has continued to improve as he has gained more experience, and to have won the ratio of races he has is remarkable.”
Neither Horner nor Vettel are celebrating yet, however, even though it is now only a formality the fourth title will be won.
Vettel said: “I’m trying not to think about the title. I’m trying to focus more on the present. We won the title two years ago in Japan, but there are still a lot of points to get.”
Vettel beat Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean into second and third, with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes and Alonso, with Jenson Button eighth for McLaren.