Vettel: Car feels better than 12 months ago

2013 F1 season

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Sebastian Vettel says the Red Bull RB9 feels better than its predecessor did this at time last year.

“I’m quite happy with the car, the balance,” he told media at Jerez after today’s test. “Quite a bit happier than where we started last year.”

“This circuit has always been a good indicator of whether you have a strong car or not,” he added. “But at this stage it’s very difficult to judge what we do compared to the rest in terms of fuel loads, etc…

“And right now to be honest we’re not that bothered going on in our team.”

Vettel was quickest for much of the day but slipped to fourth during the final hour of the test. He said the track tends “ramps up” as the week goes on, yielding quicker lap times.

But he stressed the difficulty of comparing lap times between cars:

“I think we’ve been in good shape today but it depends a lot what kind of fuel you run. Usually it’s a little bit easier with less fuel to get the lap time, especially when it’s cold.”

2013 F1 season


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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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11 comments on “Vettel: Car feels better than 12 months ago”

  1. Eureca!!! :D

  2. As I’ve said before, I’d be quite surprised if any team turned up with a package that felt worse than this time last year…

    1. It’s all relative though

    2. Exactly my thoughts when I read the title!

    3. Same here! My response was “I’d like to hope so” though: it wouldn’t be good if the car didn’t feel better than in Brazil I think personally!

    4. Perhaps Honda in 2007? I remember the Super Aguris kicking their ***** for the beginning of the year…

    5. Perhaps Honda in 2007? I remember the Super Aguris kicking them around for the beginning of the year…

      1. Beat me to it!

    6. Ferrari had that feeling last year

      1. But that was because there was a rule change, and every car would be slower than their 2011 counterpart, whereas 2013 is a direct improvement from 2012.

  3. William Brierty
    20th February 2013, 15:06

    If I was to put my “EJ” hat on, my response to this remark would be thus:

    “Vettel is playing the politics game and putting a brave face on because of the disappointing speed of the RB9, and the eye-watering pace of McLaren and Ferrari. This of course means that Fernando Alonso will definitely win the championship.”

    However, with no “EJ hat”, we all know this remark translates as:

    “Vettel is happy, the car is amazing, Newey’s done it again and the quadruple double beckons.”

    What a difference a hat makes.

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