Drivers Championship title. Constructors Championship title. Heady stuff. But look where it got Brawn GP...
It's easy to drop the ball in F1 - you spend all your resources and energy trying to stay ahead of your rivals, and then discover that you were so busy doing that, you didn't give enough time to preparing for next year.
Not that I'm saying the RB boys have done that - if not for some bad luck and occasional driver brain-fade issues, they clearly had the fastest car of the season, and should have mopped up the titles way earlier than they did.
But both Ferrari and McLaren were a bit off the ultimate pace at times last year, and Brawn's transition into Mercedes saw them not just drop the ball, but seemingly forget that they had one in the first place. So can Red Bull maintain their momentum, and provide the highly talented Vettel and wise-old Aussie Webber with a car they can take another run at the title with?
Early days, but the first round of testing certainly indicated that the car was fast. So are the drivers up to it? Vettel is a major talent, and seems to be losing the tendency towards errors he showed earlier in his career. The confidence that comes from winning the title should see him improve even more this season.
Webber is a great, tough driver. An unfortunate tendency to get on bikes, then get off them again in inappropriate ways has hampered him somewhat the last couple of years, but he still has what it takes to go for the title.
The car doesn't seem to be particularly radical, but evolving one that just won the championship seems pretty sensible, doesn't it?
(Still on that Sash! tape.)
It's easy to drop the ball in F1 - you spend all your resources and energy trying to stay ahead of your rivals, and then discover that you were so busy doing that, you didn't give enough time to preparing for next year.
Not that I'm saying the RB boys have done that - if not for some bad luck and occasional driver brain-fade issues, they clearly had the fastest car of the season, and should have mopped up the titles way earlier than they did.
But both Ferrari and McLaren were a bit off the ultimate pace at times last year, and Brawn's transition into Mercedes saw them not just drop the ball, but seemingly forget that they had one in the first place. So can Red Bull maintain their momentum, and provide the highly talented Vettel and wise-old Aussie Webber with a car they can take another run at the title with?
Early days, but the first round of testing certainly indicated that the car was fast. So are the drivers up to it? Vettel is a major talent, and seems to be losing the tendency towards errors he showed earlier in his career. The confidence that comes from winning the title should see him improve even more this season.
Webber is a great, tough driver. An unfortunate tendency to get on bikes, then get off them again in inappropriate ways has hampered him somewhat the last couple of years, but he still has what it takes to go for the title.
The car doesn't seem to be particularly radical, but evolving one that just won the championship seems pretty sensible, doesn't it?
(Still on that Sash! tape.)
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