Horner not expecting repeat of Singapore dominance

F1 Fanatic Round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: Christian Horner says Sebastian Vettel’s performance advantage in Singapore is unlikely to be repeated again this season.

New server

F1 Fanatic has been running on its new server for just over a month now. We’ve seen a significant improvement in site performance and reliability since then, particularly during times of peak use.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to the site as a supporter and through donations. More traffic means a more powerful server is needed and that costs money, so it’s a big thanks to the F1 Fanatic readers whose support made this upgrade possible.

If you would like to help support F1 Fanatic, by contributing £1 per month you can browse the site ad free. Payments can be made per month or per year. Find out more about becoming an F1 Fanatic Supporter via the links below. Donations are also accepted.

Links

Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.

Red Bull insists dominance a one-off (Autosport)

“There were times last weekend when Sebastian was two seconds quicker than the rest of the field, but I think it was due to unique circumstances.”

Q&A – Sauber’s Monisha Kaltenborn (F1)

“We understand that the big teams have the big brands, their own brands, which are of course important for generating income in F1, along with the sport, the drivers and the other teams. But in my view you cannot do without the other teams. It’s give and take – and that asks for a different kind of balance. You don’t have to put everybody at an equal level. I don’t believe in that at all, because after all we are a competition, so we don’t have to have the same things for everyone.”

No accident means Buddh F1 race may pay less for cover (The Economic Times)

“The insurance premium on the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix this year is likely to decline by 7% as the first two years of the event were accident-free.”

Will Ward and Ben Sulayem combine to defeat Todt? (Adam Cooper’s F1 Blog)

“Ben Sulayem was a staunch supporter of Max Mosley, and as such followed the former president’s lead in transferring his allegiance to Todt at the last elections in 2009. However as early as 2010 there were rumours that he would be willing to stand against Todt in 2013.”

The thinking behind a decision – Part 2 (Ferrari)

Head of strategic operations Neil Martin: “I had produced a module from which it could be deduced that the teams were stopping too early to refuel, losing the opportunity to refuel for nothing at the start of the race, as no time was lost filling the tank. Once it was possible to demonstrate, using just pre Grand Prix data that the McLaren could have made just a single stop, something that was only realised once the race was over.”

David Ward welcomes new Concorde Agreement and calls for extra investment in grass roots motor sport (David Ward and Team)

“The final conclusion of the negotiations over the Concorde Agreement is a very positive development for the FIA. This is a solid achievement by Jean Todt and I congratulate him for it. The question now is what will the new resources from Concorde be used for? The answer should be for investment in ‘grass roots’ development of motor sport.”

Impressive: Highly Detailed Lego F1 Cars (WTF1)

Superbly realised seventies and eighties F1 cars rendered in Lego.

McLaren Comic: The true adventures of James Hunt (McLaren)

“In October 1976 – the climax of the most thrilling world championship in F1 history took place at rain-lashed Fuji Speedway. The race was full of drama – and saw James Hunt emerge as Britain’s sporting hero and new world champion. Here is the whole story…”

Tweets

Comment of the day

More scepticism over whether New Jersey’s race will happen next year:

Was just at the New Jersey site yesterday, they need to hurry the hell up.

I don’t see any sign of a pit garage or work being done on the new track where its supposed to swing around the water. The road surface needs a real good going-over to.
Jason

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Brian Munene and Spencer Ward!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

The controversial Singapore Grand Prix took place on this day five years ago. Look out for an article about that race on the site later today.

Ten years ago today Michael Schumacher virtually assured himself of a sixth world championship title with victory in the United States Grand Prix.

Title rival Kimi Raikkonen finished second while Juan Pablo Montoya was controversially penalised for a collision with Rubens Barrichello:

The race also saw Sauber lead for the first time, courtesy of Heinz-Harald Frentzen:

Image © Red Bull/Getty

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

90 comments on “Horner not expecting repeat of Singapore dominance”

  1. Frankly I can’t take anything Horner says seriously. He states this was an iscolated one off, but it’s hardly the first time Vettel has taken flight into the far distance once the lights have gone out. I think the main difference at Singapore was that Vettel was actually pushing so that he could build a gap for a free pit stop. We actually saw, during the mid race especially, just what that Red Bull car is capable of. I can’t help but feel at previous races he builds up 6-10 seconds and then just manages the race to match the driver in 2nd place.

    Personally if I was Vettel, even more so now the title is pretty sure in the bag, I’d want to go as aggressive as possible and go as hard and fast as the car would allow, just to see how far out in front I could get. Never mind the feelings of fans or other drivers; I’d want to anhialate everyone. 99% of the time I feel Vettel is told to back off a literally cruise to victory*, which is even less exciting to watch than him 60 seconds plus out in front.

    *I realise obviously I don’t know if Vettel is told to manage all the time when he is in the lead, but it seems a logical conclusion to draw.

    1. Vettel only wants pole, win and fastest lap, and fastest lap is the only one the team would rather he didn’t go for.

    2. I believe Horner is worried with front deg, even with the new fronts pirelli made for them in Hungary they had some issues, therefore, they only have 1.5 on the bag

      1. I agree, he may have a car fast enough to lap the entire field, why not see if he can do it?

    3. Fully agreed.

    4. @nick-uk – Agreed. In fact it’s amazing how Horner can contradict himself in a single sentence. He’s saying that we won’t see such dominance again, which is frankly laughable bearing in mind the difference between Singapore and Monza, but also that he won’t be “two seconds clear” again. But was he “two seconds clear”? After the safety car, Vettel was on brand new medium tyres while the cars right behind him that had not stopped were all on well-used super softs that they had started the race on. Vettel was also going on the attack well aware that he needed to build a big enough margin to the cars that had stopped. Furthermore, the car right behind him, Nico Rosberg, was struggling with understeer caused by rubber debris lodged in his front wing. So Christian, what you’re saying is that Red Bull won’t dominate to the extent that they actually didn’t dominate even though they will in all probability dominate?

      I’m truly am getting sick and tired of Horner. Every time he opens his mind it always translates into something along the lines of, “We actually don’t have a brilliant car, Sebastian’s the amazing one”, which again is frankly laughable to anyone who has seen an onboard lap with the RB9 and has the ocular provision to recognize grip when they see it. After the race it was all “we were pushed very hard”, “it was a tough race”…blah, blah, blah, but “Sebastian drove incredibly”…”although we obviously won’t win the next race and the title race is wide open”. Christian, you are an intelligent individual…hopefully, do you genuinely believe that these performances of those of a super-human driver rising above an allegedly average car? Are you receiving money from Seb’s PR department?

      1. @william-brierty
        Please watch the race again or atleast check stats and comment please
        Every body apart from SV was stopped ?? which race you are talking about Mate?

        1. Not stopped i mean
          Check the Pit stop Summary from F1.com
          Rosberg , Webber, Hamilton every one stopped for Medium tires
          Rosberg Stopped on lap 15 to get new Mediums Hamilton stopped on lap 15 too Webber Stopped on Lap 13. Vettel stopped on Lap 16.
          The Top 4 more or less on same tire with same life. Vettel opened 2 sec gap to his Pushing and Rosberg / Merc Conservative Approach to save his tires. Add to that Debris in his Front wing made him even slower .
          SV has pace of half a second but All the circumstances around at that time Enabled SV to get a bigger gap to have his Pit stop. He has a good car and he pushed hard extracted its maximum so there is nothing wrong his TP praising him.

        2. @harsha Sorry, got some of that wrong. Yes, your ammendations appear to be accurate, and yes, I would agree that Vettel’s actual advantage was around half a second over the Mercs.

      2. Well you can’t expect him to say: “there was some kind of competition at the beginning of the season but because we got the tires we needed at the expense of our main rivals, now we cruise to victory each race and expect to do so for the rest of season so fans who support anything but RedBull and Vettel can take a rest from F1 till 2014”.

        1. That’s just it, F1 is so full of **. I just don’t know if I can take it anymore. They always release these statements because they think it will benefit the ‘show’. The whole thing as turned the sport into a patronising pantomine.

          I saw some rally interviews a while back from the WRC where the title leader stated he was dominating a lot right now as he had a good car and felt on the top of his game; he said it was a lot of fun. While 2nd place man stated that he was pretty much out of it along with everyone else and would have to wait until next year to see what the team could manage.

          It’s refreshing to hear honesty for once, here in F1 it’s the same old PR fed rubbish that makes the headlines day after day, it’s usually word for word the same as the previous weekend too; especially over at Red Bull… “We look to ourseleves, try our best, didn’t expect the result it was a surprise, we were pushed very hard, we’re on the back foot compared to the others as they’ve all stepped forward this weekend…” Give me a break, how thick do you think we are?

          1. Don’t you think you’re making too big of a deal out of something very small? All teams’ PR attitude can be quite annoying if you take it too seriously, bit that’s the thing, you are not supposed to take it too seriously.

          2. All teams’ PR attitude can be quite annoying if you take it too seriously, bit that’s the thing,you are not supposed to take it too seriously.

            Then teams and drivers shouldn’t take the fans’ annoying attitude (booing, Hamilton jibes in Spain) too serious either. BS should be allowed to freely circulate from both parts than.

          3. I don’t really see how “I don’t think we’ll always be that dominant” is somehow comparable to booing. One is being politically correct, the other one the exact opposite. It’s like comparing basic manners to people who insult.

            If you feel they are comparable, it’s your right of course, but I don’t see it that way.

        2. @klaas @nick-uk He could at least admit that Red Bull are in a strong position, and stop trying to make out that any kind strong performance comes as a surprise, and that “golden boy” Vettel” is not the super-hero he makes him out to be, rescuing the Red Bull team who Horner makes out to have been on the back foot all weekend. Why can’t he say, “Yes, we’re in a really strong position now. We’re coming up to some tracks we’ve been strong at in the past, the car’s working well and Sebastian’s in the groove, so yes, we’re relatively confident”. What’s the harm in saying that? Not enough BS?

          1. You’re trying too hard to find something to complain about. First, he’s right. This is the first race in years a driver has been this dominant, so it’s partially due to special circumstances.

            Secondly. he never said or implied Red Bull was on the back foot, nor that Vettel was a hero. He did praise his driving, sure, as did basically everyone who saw the race, but he also mentioned how the car was great.

            Third, these were his exact words:

            [Alonso] had three second places to Sebastian’s three wins; so arguably, we should have had a bigger lead over him than we currently have. But he keeps finishing second and he’s keeping us honest.

            Where’s the BS there? It’s the absolute true. Alonso has been always on the back of Vettel. A single DNF could cost them more than half the lead Vettel currently has, so I’d be cautious, too.

            I know we have to complain about basically everything Red Bull do, but give me a break here. Horner’s simply being politically correct and cautious.

            Let’s not make a big deal just because he doesn’t say exactly what you want him to.

          2. What good is 2nd place when it’s so far down the road? It pretty much means unless a miracle happens Ferrari wont be able to get ahead and stay there like Red Bull do. It’s like saying a bunch of 10 year olds running against Usain Bolt keeps him champion honest. In that situation somebody inevitably has to come 2nd, but there is still no comparison. Alonso is the best of the rest, sure, but it’s still no good.

          3. You’re missing the point. No one is saying Alonso is in a great position. The point is that slaking or making mistakes could cost them a lot. And it could. That’s the point. And, from a team director, it’s a very responsable and sensitive way of thinking. He’s paid to think that way, it’s what a team leader is supossed to do.

            Your anger at his comment is unwarranted at best, completely irrational at worst.

          4. @nick-uk

            It pretty much means unless a miracle happens Ferrari wont be able to get ahead and stay there like Red Bull do

            That is it, now Alonso just needs to utter the word ‘miracle’ and the wins will start coming…

        3. Like people said before the tyre change, ” They are the same for everyone deal with it”.

      3. @william-brierty

        I guess Horner wasn’t informed that this type of PR statement is only allowed when you’re called Ferrari or Alonso.

        1. @baron-2

          Well at least Ferrari aren’t lying when they try to make out that there lead driver is pulling results out of an average car.

          1. @william-bribery that is correct, just Red Bull have a lead driver pulling great results out of a good car.

          2. @vettel1 did u deliberately put the word bribery or was it a typo?? @william-bribery instead of @william-brierty

          3. No that was autocorrect, thanks for highlighting that @noob!

          4. What exactly is average about the current Ferrari? At the beginning of the season it was on par with the Red Bull, arguably superior in a couple of tracks. Even after the tyre change it manages the tyres far better than the Meredes, and it’s still faster than the Lotus. It’s not better than the Red Bull, but it’s far from average.

  2. FIA election ? I am not impressed with Jean Todt as FIA president but the thought of anyone previously associated with Max Mosely taking over worries me even more. I guess I will never like any FIA president, the question is whether that is because the job is difficult and unpopular decisions have to be taken or is it because you have to be an egotistical meglomaniac with delusions of grandeur in order to be elected ?

    1. @hohum I know this is crazy, but since Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher names are always together that come to mind, I was wondering if Michael someday becomes the FIA president…
      That led me to wonder, has any F1 driver ever become a FIA president??

      1. I don’t think so, at least not in the last 50 yrs.

  3. I’m not sure Mr Horner is correct. Yes, of course, a 30+ second gap is unlikely to arise (that was almost purely resultant from strategic differences). However, I see no reason to suggest the car will become slower: in fact, I think Suzuka, India, Interlagos and to a lesser extent Korea will suit it more relative to the opposition. That, coupled with the fact Ferrari at least are all but abandoning 2013 according to Alonso and it is genuinely possible Vettel could win almost all of the remaining races. It doesn’t look good for close competition for P1.

    1. I agree. It was partly due to a confluence of circumstances that saw Vettel’s incredible pace relative to the rest of the field, but that doesn’t mean the Red Bull will be any slower in the next few races – just that either Vettel or Webber will win by a smaller margin!

      If all the teams have now diverted all their resources to 2014 that means that each car’s pace over the final six races will pretty much be locked in. If Belgium, Italy and Singapore are any indication then it’ll be Red Bull v. Mercedes on Saturday and Merc will be unlikely to stop Red Bull on Sunday, probably fighting Alonso for 2nd with Raikkonen in the mix for good measure. Like you said, Vettel has a real chance of winning every remaining race.

      1. It seems that quite often teams abandon ship and divert their attention to the following year… it’s getting them closer to Red Bull… oh wait…

    2. exactly @vettel1, there is no reason at all to believe that Red Bull – Vettel won’t be the one to put our money on for every single race until the end of the year. Maybe Mercedes will be working on their car to get in a couple of more wins, because that would make sense for them (try it in Austin, who knows India? Or maybe AbuDhabi), but theres not much sense for Ferrari to put energy in developping this years car for a battle already lost. McLaren might go for a podium before they call it quits, and I guess Lotus will try to do a lot to get as much results out of Kimi as they can, but even then regular podiums are the best they can expect.

      1. Abu Dhabi would be my best bet for another Mercedes win, and who knows what Interlagos will throw at the drivers. Other than that it’s hard to see how Vettel won’t be untouchable at Korea, Suzuka and India as he had been the past three years.

  4. ESPN in the US reviews Rush. Glowingly and in the context of other US sports movies. This is from the producer of the TV film series that showed Senna on ESPN.

  5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, an underrated driver. He should have at least won more races.

    1. He was overrated imho…

  6. I remember jumping up and down in joy when Montoya received a drive-through penalty during the 2003 USA Grand Prix. At the time, I was a Ferrari fan, so you’d expect that. In hindsight however, I would have preferred a 3-way championship battle in Suzuka, but the stewards ruined it.

    2003 was a great year in Formula 1, but it could have been even better without the late-season politicking.

    1. It was an outrageous decision. You could tell who they wanted to win back then.

  7. Horner attempts to lower expectations of dominance to try to help keep fan interest up. Sort of F1 style political correctness. Can’t help but think that Vettel could have done even more in Singapore without the possibility of gearbox problems. That’s kind of a scary thought.

  8. Horner : Vettel was 2 seconds faster than everyone because of unusual circumstances .

    Me: Al’right , under usual circumstances he would have been 1 second faster than everyone .

    Sir . Horner correctly incorrect as usual.

  9. For all those “very reliable” websites out there: No, we never tested 2014 tyres in Barcelona. #CheckYourSources

    Own goal, Ferrari? XD

    1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      28th September 2013, 7:55

      @cr917 Nah, just a clarification for people.

    2. @crr917 @shreyasf1fan Any idea who they’re referring to?

      1. @keithcollantine no. I don’t remember reading anything on the subject recently.

        1. Or maybe it is related to this week’s test.

  10. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    28th September 2013, 9:18

    Whilst I don’t expect Vettel to win by that much again this year, I’ll be highly surprised if anyone can even beat them without Vettel having a retirement

  11. For the first time, in a long time, someone has a very good chance of equalling Ascari’s record of nine consecutive wins. I don’t think anyone is doubting Vettel’s performance at the moment, and the Red Bull is once again the class of the field. As long as reliability doesn’t come into it, then Vettel may just do it. That, for me, is definitely one reason to keep watching!

    1. No doubt Vettel is a talented driver but most people are really tired of watching the same guy dominate for 4 years. From 2007 onwards F1 fans were looking at the prospect of seeing the top guys Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen fighting close battles. Instead they had an 2009 marked by controversial technical solutions giving a rather mediocre driver in an unusual car the chance to get the title. And 2010-2013 with a predominant Vettel pole-win pattern. Hence the booing under the podium.
      P.S Vettel’s personality, Marko’s overprotection at the expense of other drivers, Horner’s hypocrisy don’t help either. Now one can publish dozens of articles citing former drivers that defend Vettel and condemn the booing, most fans won’t start to love Vettel simply because they have other expectations from F1 and Vettel winning half of the races in a season consecutively will surely make many viewers turn away from watching F1, just like in Schumi-Ferrari days. These kind of records are good for drivers’s egos not for the ones who turn on the TV and expect to watch a race but instead get a pole-win by a country mile formality.

      1. First of all, I wouldn’t say Jenson Button is a mediocre driver, not by any stretch of the imagination.

        To be honest, I couldn’t really care less if people find it boring. As long as there has been Formula 1, there have been dominant drivers, whom have out-classed the field. No driver and team should be booed simply because they are doing a far better job than the rest of the teams. I’ve never been a big fan of Seb, but he does have a genuinely likeable personality. Plus, like I said, I don’t care if other people are bored. The genuine F1 fanatics will enjoy every part of Formula 1, and understand that not every race, or even year is going to be closely fought. I still get a thrill out of watching history being made and records being broken, and that’s exactly what we get to witness today.

        1. The genuine F1 fanatics will enjoy every part of Formula 1 – the sickening PR machine, the tyre and technical scandals that taint the genuine competition, good drivers forced to make way for boys with big wallets, easy pole-win victories etc. – no these not genuine F1 fanatics, these are merely a flock that would buy anything Bernie would sell them. Genuine fans enjoy F1 for the competiton not for the making up of numbers and records, But that’s just my opinion and I don’t care if you don’t care about it.

          1. @klaas

            Genuine fans enjoy F1 for the competiton not for the making up of numbers and records

            F1 is about excellence. The competition you speak of comes from multiple drivers and teams achieving excellence. Records are broken through excellence.

      2. F1 and Vettel winning half of the races in a season consecutively will surely make many viewers turn away from watching F1, just like in Schumi-Ferrari days.

        People often say that, However fans never turned away during the Schumacher/Ferrari-Era, The TV ratings & attendance figures remained high & actually increased through the 2000-2004 period.

        1. Not that I don’t believe you, but do you have a source? Because according to Autosport:

          Ferrari’s domination might have damaged Formula 1’s TV ratings – the sport’s lifeblood –

          That plus the general knowledge (or perception?) that that was the case.

          1. Internal figures we were getting at the time showed a worldwide viewership increase through the 2000-2004 period.

            2004 which was there most dominant season Schumacher/Ferrari had featured a small jump in figures from 2003 which had been a closer, more competitive season.

            Im going of my memory of the basic pattern we were seeing at the time, I can’t give exact figures as my brain isn’t good enough to remember them after so long.

    2. @jamiefranklinf1

      someone has a very good chance of equalling Ascari’s record of nine consecutive wins

      I am very much keeping my fingers crossed and hope it happens…That is one record that even mighty Michael Schumacher could not break…

      1. It will certainly be on Vettels radar which means he wont be settling for 2nd as long as the car remains driveable.

  12. Autosport has a good article on the ‘booing’ that really seems to sum it up.
    It really seems that they’re not so much booing Vettel, but Red Bull. Just like Benneton was just a clothing company to Red Bull being just a soft drink company that have no history compared to Ferrari or Mclaren; who both dominated the sport at different times yet we’re not booed. So Vettel might gain new fans if or when he eventually chooses to change teams, just like Schumi did when he moved to Marranello. It’s well worth a read.
    BTW; those lego models look awesome!
    Thr Mclaren comic looks like screenshots from the film edited on an iPhone, hardly marvel quality.

    1. I don’t understand that personally: I thought everyone had learned their lesson when Lotus came in and the 60’s and everyone laughed at them, right until they appeared on track and absolutely annihilated the manufacturers and established teams.

      They aren’t “just a drinks company”, they’re the reigning triple world champions. Sometimes people fail to realise this – that says they have been better than everyone for three years in a row, soon to be four. To me that deserves the highest respect.

        1. agreed

    2. Maybe the funding comes from “just a drinks company”, but the team is very much a genuine racing team with history (albeit under a different name). It seems everyone seems to know where the booing comes from, Joe Saward suggested it was because of Malaysia, Autosport suggests because it’s a team that has no history (personally I find Saward’s conclusion the more plausible when comparing the two). I wouldn’t be surprised if the booing is done just because they can, and because they know it’ll be an issue in the media. Maybe it started as something different, but I doubt it’s that now. But then again, what do I know, right?

    3. Well, no matter how you split it, it does seem increasingly clear that the booing and the increasingly desperate criticism of Red Bull and Vettel is pretty much all a result of Ferrari but hurt over their repeated failure to provide their drivers with a car which has a chance of winning the championship. And of course that it looks unlikely that this trend is going to change any time soon.

    4. Marlboro McLaren, just a tobacco compny!

    5. If being a soft-drink company is the reason that people boo Vettel/Red Bull then those people are very ignorant. First the team name is Infiniti Red Bull Racing, where Infiniti is a car company. Maybe they don’t have any significant racing history and as a company are not contributing to the team with anything more than cash but is still a car company. The current Lotus team has nothing in common with the original Lotus team and they too are sponsored by a soft-drink company Burn by Coca-Cola. Mercedes are bit better in the history part but they too have an energy drink company as a major sponsor.
      I think some people just need an excuse and anything will do.

  13. I’m not sure I would class the RBR and Vettel domination as the same kind of domination that M Schu and Ferrari enjoyed in the early 2000’s, nor the Williams domination in 92, 93, nor the McLaren domination in the late 80’s. Those we’re truly dominant car/driver packages. Merc started off really well this year, as did Ferrari, but RBR has been very quick on development throughout the season and that is why they’re currently leading the championship, other teams are playing catch up…

  14. With regards to Redbull, you would think a team that was transformed from a midfield team into the very best would receive alot more love from fans. There is nothing easy or lucky about what they have acheived

    1. Well, it is impressive, @anele-mbethe, and most impressive is how good RedBull’s chances are of keeping it up at or near the top for a good while longer.

      Warning, sort of rant:
      For me personally, I found their ‘we are TEH hip’ attitude when they entered mostly over the top (though it provided that greatly oddly enjoyable superman podium cape, and DC enjoyed himself a lot), but good marketing when they couldn’t yet win.

      Even then, in 2008 they were uncool enough, disliking their b-team using the same chassis with an Ferrari engine and Vettel beat them that next year STR got those updates months late. Fun.

      And in 2009 they were a winning team and had no real time for fun, but still played a quirky underdog, with the tirelessly oft repeated ‘magic button’ remarks while having the best car (was it Kimi who remarked he wouldn’t mind a switch of RBR for his kers in answer?).

      They still have this, to me grating, idea they somehow are an underdog, not the ruthless and hard working, efficient winning machine they have become.

      Ferrari have remained ferrari, always powerhouse, selfimportant, though currently not quite the winners they need to be. McLaren are weird but oddly entertaining if you take them with a pinch of salt, but also always near to the top; Williams are sympathetic now bc. they have it in them to once again be a force. I don’t need any of them to play underdog for me (yeah, lotus hashtagging, overdone even if often funny).

      1. @bosyber i have never felt that they play the underdog card to much and some of the footage i saw of the event after Silverstone this year shows they still have a funny side. If they came out screaming “hey we are simply the best” then people would say they were arrogant, so its a tough balancing act of trying to be humble while acknowledging your success and ability to continue that successful trend.

        1. Yeah, I did call it ranty for a reason @anele-mbethe, usually I just don’t care much for teams trying to be funny I guess; Especially when the relaxedness doen’t really extend to their demeanor. As I mentioned: Ferrari, I try to take as they are, not yet there with Red Bull might have to start trying more :)

    1. I find somewhat hard to believe that Red Bull would bring illegal TC to Singapore, risking a heavy sanction, when they were already leading both championships confortably.

      Can’t say it’s not true, but it doesn’t sound like a logical thing to do, and that article doesn’t really bring any solid arguments or any technical investigation, it’s in fact, quite weak.

    2. Yeah, people are going to eat that up with a spoon.

    3. It’s not TC. It’s Seb’s right foot – this is where the magic happens ;P

      1. The magic happens where the air meets the wing.

        1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
          2nd October 2013, 14:50

          @hohum True story, mate.

    4. I highly doubt it. They wouldn’t break the rules when they don’t need to, and besides there isn’t a chance they could hide a traction control programme like Benetton managed in the 90’s.

      1. @vettel1

        That Benetton’s were using traction control hasn’t been proved conclusively to this day.

          1. @sankalp88 I know, but the suspicion was there. Nowadays you just wouldn’t be able to pull that off though – everything will be able to be monitered by the FIA live.

    5. @oletros How bizarre for an ex-team to make such a claim and to do so through an anonymous blog post.

      1. @keithcollantine

        The italian version has the Gian Carlo Minardi signature

        http://www.minardi.it/singapore-cosa-nasconde-il-cilindro-magico-di-newey-e-vettel-2/

        But yes, it is bizarre and I don’t understand that “I don’t want to accuse but …” attitude.

        My feelings is that that post will appear in Spanish media in the future

      2. Anonymous blog post? It’s his official internet page…

        1. At the time I looked at the English language version it wasn’t bylined, apparently the Italian version is.

          1. yes, the italian version is.

    6. Neat driving? Cheating. Speeding up 50m before the rest? I don’t know what this is supposed to mean. But still cheating. “abnormal noise”? Cheating. 2.5s faster than Alonso? Cheating. (obviously traffic and pit stop strategies doesn’t matter). Vettel is faster than Webber who is a “common human being”? Are you serious? :D

    7. Regards to the Article by Minardi he conveniently left out all the other aspects behind and Solely focused on “How SV accelerated and How he created 2 Sec Gap etc etc”
      Lets be clear on this RBR car requires a certain Driving Way in order to Go Quicker. I really don’t understand How That was wrong obviously he was sitting some where in the stand or in some room and he can hear the Car sounding differences so perfectly that the Teams Personnel couldn’t hear.
      Can he tell us how he thinks that a Car which was down in Straight speed by 6 to 7 Kph to Mercs can set Fastest S1 Time with out going fastest in Corners as fast as they can.
      He Says that SV was barely set pole but he forgot that SV didn’t run and The Track evolution changed it and his 6 tenths advantage was down to tenth.
      If he wants to make accuse then welcome but he has to back up his statements with proofs not with the Opinions .

      1. The article was a taster for a rather heavy detail study in this week magazine release, in short the claim is related to partial blowing but also using KERS charging system (includes alternator) to increase stability and so cornering speed.
        Akcnowledges blowing is only illegal if driver do not press gas, but as long as is been slightly press mapping can do that BD effect, there is also not limit in some areas of kers use specially in charging.

        I guess using all your resources available, but bad news for those wishing Redbull dominance fall in a even more important/useful KERS unit next year, at least the grail is slightly moving away from aerodinamics.

  15. wow. listen to those engines! i almost forgot how they sounded.

Comments are closed.