Formula 1: Vettel quickest in Australia

Last year Sebastain Vettel started the season as one of the favorites to win the championship. His Red Bull machine was regarded also as one of the quickest on the grid. The wizards at Renault gave them the horsepower and the torque needed to rip around F1’s quickest circuits and Adrian Newey, the genius in F1 chassis design, gave Red Bull Racing (RBR) the aerodynamic superiority required to speed through a wall of air while staying glued to the tarmac. In their drivers Vettel and Webber, RBR placed their trust and aimed for the best.

The 2010 season was a pothole filled road. It was a minefield, with disaster lurking at several rounds. At one stage it was felt that the young but devastatingly quick Vettel was on the verge of imploding. But the cream rises to the top. He waited until the final round to ascend the flight of stairs, to stand where he truly deserved and became F1’s youngest champion.

Memories of a spectacular season will live on. We, however, live in the present and look to the future. The 2011 season has begun and Vettel, the defending world champion, ironically, is now the man with the bull’s-eye on his back. He is now the target, the man/ driver everyone is trying to beat. Hunger is the best sauce so Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes GP and others do not intend to allow RBR to have the stranglehold they had on the 2010 season.

Adrian Newey

RBR knows this and as such they revisited the drawing board. Adrian Newey took out his implements and went about his business in a methodical manner. The nerd in the room who all students hate, but would love to be, produced what is being touted to be another masterpiece. He somehow managed to improve on the 2010 chassis and with all the ‘slow them down’ changes for the 2011 season, the machine appears to be quicker!

In Australia, during qualifying for the first round of the 2011 F1 world championship, Sebastian Vettel and RBR, aided by supporting cast, Renault powered V8 and an Adrian Newey designed chassis, used the town crier and proclaimed in lucid language that they are the quickest combination on the grid. Vettel drove away with the pole position and left the pack pondering their prospects.

Vettel and RBR are off to an excellent start. McLaren and Ferrari are where they were last season – close by. This is how they line up for the Australian GP – Vettel, Hamilton,Webber,Button follwed by Alonso. The seeds for the drama are being sown.

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer