There have been setbacks along the way: a Ferrari engine deal lasted just a year before it was transferred to 'junior' team Toro Rosso, who then pipped Red Bull Racing to a first grand prix win - rubbing it in somewhat by using an identical chassis. Not that the act was symbolic of a new chapter: Red Bull were quick to label themselves the party team of the paddock - a smokescreen that arguably served them well as they set about putting a title-winning package together. When Christian Horner was installed as boss of what was the former Jaguar team in January 2005, his first task was to help take down decorations and clean up the remnants of a Christmas party.
I just wish I'd put my money where my mouth was. Remember also that he was the youngest of the title-chasing quartet: youthful indiscretions are always easier to forgive, right? Despite the third part of the Vettel-Red Bull-Renault axis threatening to ruin everything in Korea, subsequent wins in Japan, Brazil and Abu Dhabi allowed him to leap to the top of the standings for the first time all year - in the nick of time. Vettel did make more mistakes than last year but with each title contender suffering hiccups along the way, it didn't matter in the end. Impetuous and immature were the adjectives being bandied about as his squabble with Mark Webber took hold and as the season entered its closing stages, you wondered whether it might really be a case of too much, too soon. Make no mistake though, he certainly made Red Bull suffer as spring gave way to summer as failures in first Turkey, Hungary and then Belgium made you wonder whether he actually had any judgement left. The team certainly kept their half of the bargain, although you were made to wonder at the start of the season in Bahrain and Melbourne - Vettel suffering through no fault of his own after dominating both weekends. Why? The logic flowed as follows: that Red Bull would build a car even quicker and more reliable than last year's rocketship, while its young pilot would this year marry greater experience (and therefore judgement) to his speed. But sentiment should not be the overriding factor when making a big decision and the biggest at the start of 2010 - who is actually going to win? - saw me backing the German.
Speaking as someone who will always plump for the underdog if he can help it, Vettel wasn't my favourite driver from within his own team, let alone on the grid.
At the end of a season defined more than anything else by the inability of any of its main protagonists to steal a march, perhaps it's too much to ask for more of the same in 2011? Vettel's success means there'll be a record-equalling five world champions on the grid next year. The year might have been competitive in the extreme but Red Bull still ended it with a clean sweep, having also scooped the constructors' title with their Renault-powered RB6.
0 kommentar(er)
