Formula one appears to have found a new master in the wet at the Chinese Grand Prix and guess what?
He’s German.
Sebastian Vettel stormed to win a second career victory and first for the Red Bull team in the wet conditions at the Chinese Grand Prix this morning, leading home a one-two ahead of team mate Mark Webber. Jenson Button remains at the top in the drivers championship with the Brawn GP's of Button and Barrichello taking third and fourth. It was an improving afternoon for McLaren as Kovalaenin bagged his first points of the season, leading home Hamilton in fifth and sixth.
It’s not the first time that the young German has won in the wet. At the Italian Grand Prix last season, seven months and seven races ago Vettel claimed his first Grand Prix win at the Monza circuit, then with the sister Torro Rosso team.
Today’s race had shades of that win in Monza 2008. Vettel started from pole position to take the victory on both occasions, both wins were also in the wet which will begin to give the German a reputation of being compared to a fellow countryman, Michael Schumacher.
Many in the media will now question how competitive the Red Bull team can be this season and whether they will be able to constantly challenge the likes of the front runners.
A bigger question for me is just how much of a talent is Sebastian Vettel and how long will Red Bull be able to keep hold of his services?
No doubt Vettel is a talent, last season he put the second string Torro Rosso team on the map with nine race finishes in the points, one the victory in Italy already mentioned. His skills last season got the German noticed and a rapid promotion to the main Red Bull team to fill the seat vacated by the retiring David Coulthard. This season though things had not been going too well for Vettel with two non finishes, one of which was a collision late on at the Australian Grand Prix when the young gun took out the Williams of Robert Kubica.
With this victory comes new honours, admires and fans. I think it is safe to say, even at this stage that Sebastian Vettel is a world champion in waiting. It's not a matter IF but WHEN? And any thoughts at the back of his mind on this subject will soon begin to get pushed to the forefront with a second victory under his belt.
If Red Bull don't supply Vettel with the car to do it, then obviously the young German will look elsewhere to ensure that the vision comes to fruition. Teams in the paddock like Brawn, McLaren, Renault and Ferrari, must now all be looking at Vettel as a possible replacement for their dead wood drivers.
The ironic aspect of this is the latter three teams I have just mentioned are all huge names and constructors, but all so far this season have been out-preformed by the Red Bull team this
weekend. I would be expecting all the teams to be running back to their drawing boards to frantically re-design a car that is competitive, not necessarily to get points this season, but to ensure they don't lose out on signing drivers like Vettel next season.
Results Chinese Grand Prix - Top 8
1. S. Vettel - (Red Bull) - 10pts
2. M. Webber - (Red Bull) - 8pts
3. J. Button - (Brawn GP) - 6pts
4. R. Barichello - (Brawn GP) - 5pts
5. H. Kovalainen - (McLaren) - 4pts
6. L. Hamilton - (McLaren) - 3pts
7. T. Glock - (Toyota) - 2pts
8. S. Buemi - (Torro Rosso) - 1pt
Looking at other results today Lewis Hamilton's was one that showed much promise but squandered the positions he made for himself all too often. An early charge up the field put Hamilton in fourth and what looked like a strong position for a podium had it not been for a spin that lost him four of the five places he originally earned himself off the grid.
The Brit looked at times as strong as last season with further charges that saw him slice past the
Ferrari and Toyota with ease, but had it not been for pushing too hard and more spins after losing grip, this could have been a very different race for Hamilton and one that had a more positive finish.
His team mate Kovalainen had a more encouraging race managing to complete a lap, well 56 of them to be precise, in the wet conditions to finish fifth, ahead of Hamilton after yet another spin.
One of the drives of the day came from another German, Timo Glock in the Toyota who started 19th but made up twelve places to finish 7th.
Sebastian Buemi earned himself another world championship point in the Torro Rosso holding off Alonso and Raikkonen, adding to the two he picked up in Australia. Not bad for a man in his rookie season. Following the same path as Sebastian Vettel maybe?
Disappointments of the day had to come from Fernando Alonso who started second on the grid and finished 9th. Mainly due to being fueled light at the beginning of the race which would have worked to the Spaniards advantage, had the start not been under the safety car due to increased rain.
Ferrari are still pointless after 3 Grand Prix, which is now officially their worst start to a season in 17 years. I wonder if Kimi will be having an ice cream and coke after this race?
Less than a week until Bahrain, What can Vettel do in the desert? It must be a a dry race there surely?
Sebastian Vettel stormed to win a second career victory and first for the Red Bull team in the wet conditions at the Chinese Grand Prix this morning, leading home a one-two ahead of team mate Mark Webber. Jenson Button remains at the top in the drivers championship with the Brawn GP's of Button and Barrichello taking third and fourth. It was an improving afternoon for McLaren as Kovalaenin bagged his first points of the season, leading home Hamilton in fifth and sixth.
It’s not the first time that the young German has won in the wet. At the Italian Grand Prix last season, seven months and seven races ago Vettel claimed his first Grand Prix win at the Monza circuit, then with the sister Torro Rosso team.
Today’s race had shades of that win in Monza 2008. Vettel started from pole position to take the victory on both occasions, both wins were also in the wet which will begin to give the German a reputation of being compared to a fellow countryman, Michael Schumacher.
Many in the media will now question how competitive the Red Bull team can be this season and whether they will be able to constantly challenge the likes of the front runners.
A bigger question for me is just how much of a talent is Sebastian Vettel and how long will Red Bull be able to keep hold of his services?
No doubt Vettel is a talent, last season he put the second string Torro Rosso team on the map with nine race finishes in the points, one the victory in Italy already mentioned. His skills last season got the German noticed and a rapid promotion to the main Red Bull team to fill the seat vacated by the retiring David Coulthard. This season though things had not been going too well for Vettel with two non finishes, one of which was a collision late on at the Australian Grand Prix when the young gun took out the Williams of Robert Kubica.
With this victory comes new honours, admires and fans. I think it is safe to say, even at this stage that Sebastian Vettel is a world champion in waiting. It's not a matter IF but WHEN? And any thoughts at the back of his mind on this subject will soon begin to get pushed to the forefront with a second victory under his belt.If Red Bull don't supply Vettel with the car to do it, then obviously the young German will look elsewhere to ensure that the vision comes to fruition. Teams in the paddock like Brawn, McLaren, Renault and Ferrari, must now all be looking at Vettel as a possible replacement for their dead wood drivers.
The ironic aspect of this is the latter three teams I have just mentioned are all huge names and constructors, but all so far this season have been out-preformed by the Red Bull team this
weekend. I would be expecting all the teams to be running back to their drawing boards to frantically re-design a car that is competitive, not necessarily to get points this season, but to ensure they don't lose out on signing drivers like Vettel next season.Results Chinese Grand Prix - Top 8
1. S. Vettel - (Red Bull) - 10pts
2. M. Webber - (Red Bull) - 8pts
3. J. Button - (Brawn GP) - 6pts
4. R. Barichello - (Brawn GP) - 5pts
5. H. Kovalainen - (McLaren) - 4pts
6. L. Hamilton - (McLaren) - 3pts
7. T. Glock - (Toyota) - 2pts
8. S. Buemi - (Torro Rosso) - 1pt
Looking at other results today Lewis Hamilton's was one that showed much promise but squandered the positions he made for himself all too often. An early charge up the field put Hamilton in fourth and what looked like a strong position for a podium had it not been for a spin that lost him four of the five places he originally earned himself off the grid.
The Brit looked at times as strong as last season with further charges that saw him slice past the
Ferrari and Toyota with ease, but had it not been for pushing too hard and more spins after losing grip, this could have been a very different race for Hamilton and one that had a more positive finish.His team mate Kovalainen had a more encouraging race managing to complete a lap, well 56 of them to be precise, in the wet conditions to finish fifth, ahead of Hamilton after yet another spin.
One of the drives of the day came from another German, Timo Glock in the Toyota who started 19th but made up twelve places to finish 7th.
Sebastian Buemi earned himself another world championship point in the Torro Rosso holding off Alonso and Raikkonen, adding to the two he picked up in Australia. Not bad for a man in his rookie season. Following the same path as Sebastian Vettel maybe?
Disappointments of the day had to come from Fernando Alonso who started second on the grid and finished 9th. Mainly due to being fueled light at the beginning of the race which would have worked to the Spaniards advantage, had the start not been under the safety car due to increased rain.
Ferrari are still pointless after 3 Grand Prix, which is now officially their worst start to a season in 17 years. I wonder if Kimi will be having an ice cream and coke after this race?Less than a week until Bahrain, What can Vettel do in the desert? It must be a a dry race there surely?
*****
Pictures from bbc.co.uk and telegraph.co.uk supplied by Getty Images
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