Bad news everyone, Sebastian Vettel's run of championship success could be set to continue in 2014 according to former team-mate Mark Webber.
The Aussie, who has left F1 to race for Porsche in the World Endurance Championship and recently tested their LMP1 car for the first time, has tipped Vettel and Red Bull Racing for the titles next season.
Vettel looks to 2014 as a four-time champion after taking this year's title at the Indian Grand Prix. Next year's regulation changes, including V6 Turbo engines and changes to downforce levels, could shake-up the running order.
However, Webber believes the Milton Keynes-based team - who he raced for between 2007 and 2013, taking nine victories - will adapt quickly to the new rules and will start the season strongly.
"They’re the favourites next year again, Seb’s the favourite for the drivers’ championship," he told BBC Sport.
"I think they’ll be the favourite for starting the season very, very strongly; which is probably not what people want to hear at home but I think they are going to be very strong.
"It’s an engine category next year more than probably a car/aerodynamic category, which is probably not a bad thing for some people. But I think there will also still be a decent driver input, especially from a brainpower perspective in terms of pacing and managing all the technology the cars are going to have next year which will help Sebastian, that’s right up his alley. Perfect for him."
He was also asked to name the best drivers that he has raced against during his 12-year stint in F1. He replied: "Probably between Seb and Fernando [Alonso of Ferrari]. You've got to pull everything together. It's hard to say. We've had to always tweak our skill-sets, that last part of our profession - Pirellis, refuelling, one-lap qualifying, all that sort of stuff.
"So to try to answer your question, on Sundays Fernando over two hours is a handful. There is no question about that. Over one lap I think he's not with Seb. But on Sundays between those two it's very, very tight.
"Lewis [Hamilton of Mercedes] is handy but probably not quite as much of a machine as those two are. They are literally 'plug them in and off they go'. They are very, very handy."
Red Bull Racing agreed to release Webber from his contract early to test for Porsche last week in Portugal. He will officially join the Porsche factory team on the 1st January.
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
Vettel looks to 2014 as a four-time champion after taking this year's title at the Indian Grand Prix. Next year's regulation changes, including V6 Turbo engines and changes to downforce levels, could shake-up the running order.
However, Webber believes the Milton Keynes-based team - who he raced for between 2007 and 2013, taking nine victories - will adapt quickly to the new rules and will start the season strongly.
"They’re the favourites next year again, Seb’s the favourite for the drivers’ championship," he told BBC Sport.
"I think they’ll be the favourite for starting the season very, very strongly; which is probably not what people want to hear at home but I think they are going to be very strong.
"It’s an engine category next year more than probably a car/aerodynamic category, which is probably not a bad thing for some people. But I think there will also still be a decent driver input, especially from a brainpower perspective in terms of pacing and managing all the technology the cars are going to have next year which will help Sebastian, that’s right up his alley. Perfect for him."
He was also asked to name the best drivers that he has raced against during his 12-year stint in F1. He replied: "Probably between Seb and Fernando [Alonso of Ferrari]. You've got to pull everything together. It's hard to say. We've had to always tweak our skill-sets, that last part of our profession - Pirellis, refuelling, one-lap qualifying, all that sort of stuff.
"So to try to answer your question, on Sundays Fernando over two hours is a handful. There is no question about that. Over one lap I think he's not with Seb. But on Sundays between those two it's very, very tight.
"Lewis [Hamilton of Mercedes] is handy but probably not quite as much of a machine as those two are. They are literally 'plug them in and off they go'. They are very, very handy."
Red Bull Racing agreed to release Webber from his contract early to test for Porsche last week in Portugal. He will officially join the Porsche factory team on the 1st January.
No comments:
Post a Comment