Sebastian Vettel?

[Captain Chaos]

Do you think Sebastian Vettel will be champion 2 years in a row?

Vettel has won at least 4 Formula 1 seasons in a row, so that's really saying something about what this guy can do.

I think yes, yes he will win a fifth year in a row. I've got a good feeling about this guy's track record.

[rjbetty]

I wouldn't put anything past Red Bull. They are bringing major updates for Barcelona and I wouldn't be too surprised if they suit Seb and he takes off again. Still 15 races to go, including double points...

But Seb just seems too much on the back foot, not so hot now it's not all his way.

[Mia 01]

Remember The team Brawn in 2009? They won the first couple of races but then Red Bull outdeveloped them and won nearly all the remaining races. So yes, it´s doable.

[henners88]

Remember The team Brawn in 2009? They won the first couple of races but then Red Bull outdeveloped them and won nearly all the remaining races. So yes, it´s doable.

Brawn ran out of Honda money for development in early 2009 and I somehow think Mercedes Benz investment along with a vastly expanded facility in Brackley will give the team a better chance in the development race this time around. Its never wise to count Red Bull out of course and I hope they close the gap to make the racing more interesting, but we can't compare a privateer team from 5 years ago to what we have now, or do you think otherwise?

[TheFamousEccles]

Merc would really need to drop the ball to loose the title - I'm talking a catastrophic, team wide brain-fart. RBR are very likely to give them a strong run for the title, but the Boss is on form, Nico is not too far behind and looking ominous and Merc have been focussing on this iteration of F1 for the longest lead-in time, to all accounts.

But, strange things can happen...

[journeyman racer]

The Boss??? Nico is not too far behind?



I thought he was leading???

[Firstgear]

I don't think he can do it. While I agree that Red Bull might catch up in terms of speed and start taking race wins, such a steep development curve would probably introduce some unreliability. So even if they do catch up and even pass Mercedes in terms of overall speed, Red Bull dnf's will keep Hamilton (or perhaps Nico) ahead of Vettel in the standings.

[Doc Austin]

I posted this on the Mercedes team orders thread:

Right now it looks like the Total fuel could be the problem for the Renault runners, and if that's so, you can expect them to fix that fast. Newey is going to get the car perfect, and I think we are about to see the best Vettel we have ever seen. If you remember the other times he has had his back to the wall, he has always delivered..... Abu Dabi for his first championship and Brazil (with a wounded car) to win his third.

Red Bull and Vettel are absolutely deadly when they are hooked up, and we have seen how much and how fast they can improve, just over the two week summer break last year.

Assuming Renault and Total get the fuel sensor thing sorted out, they should be ok. The one time Red Bull ignored the sensors and used their own calculations, Ricciardo got a second place, so the Renault seems to be fairly strong.

If Vettel is going to pull it off again, Red Bull needs to start putting up maximum points every race or Hamilton is going to be too far gone to catch. I've got no doubt Vettel can do it if Red bull gives him the car, but it's a matter of not losing too much ground right now.

[anfield5]

Vettel is good, of that there is no question. But I have always had a slight doubt about his ability in a difficult or slightly off the pace car. Drivers like Fred and Hamilton seem to be able to win in also-ran machinery, where as Vettel and Button only seem capable of greatness in a great car.

So the short answer from me is no, Vettel will not win this year, unless Red Bull can provide him with a dominant car

[Koz]

I think back to Bahrain and how close Vettel was to the Ferraris which he could not overtake. Red Bull probably still has the best car, except for the engine. IF Renault can match Merc before Austria, then there is still a fight to be had.

We have 15 races to go, and 50 points means very little.
But the WCC is long gone.