Is this the end of a glorified era for Sebastian Vettel?

Sebastian Vettel

The year was 2009, F1’s then reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton had entered the arena at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, to test his new Mclaren MP4–24, only to find out that he was almost a second and a half off pace to this new team called “Brawn GP”. It was shocking news to the world of F1. Ross Brawn (Former Team Principal of Ferrari and Honda Racing) had managed to give the motorsport world a car that was championship winner from the word go.

What was the reason for this sudden turnaround? Why was it that the top teams like Ferrari, McLaren and BMW-Sauber had struggled to find pace and while a novice team like Brawn had suddenly arisen from nowhere to manage a strong car? RULE CHANGES.

It was 2009 when Max Mosely (then president of the FIA) announced dramatic rule changes for the new season in a bid to improve the showbiz of the sport, with the cars undergoing major changes in an effort to increase overtaking. The design changes were significantly altered for the new cars, incorporating wider and lower front wings, taller and narrower rear wings, and a reduction in aerodynamic bodywork. Also introduced were slick tyres and Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, as well as implementing a budget cap for cost-cutting measures in a response to the rising costs of competing.

2009 was a Ross Brawn spectacle; he had managed to hit the sweet spot and build a car around those rules, giving the world the most unlikely champion – Jenson Button. But something else happened that year; amidst all the fumes and glory of the fluorescent-white team, there was another team that was rising, steadily climbing the ladder of success. In fact, they came so close in the end that Jenson Button’s dominance almost came crumbling down.

It was also the year when Red Bull Racing, the former Jaguar racing team headed by Christian Horner and Adrian Newey, arrived to challenge for the F1 throne and almost succeeded with Sebastian Vettel. He was all of 21 years and had already won his first Grand Prix a year back in 2008 at the Italian Grand Prix. Red Bull and Adrian Newey gave him a car that was strong and had the requisite downforce at slower tracks to compete with Brawn and his army of geezers. Vettel had arrived, he went on to win four races that season and finished 11 points behind the champion.

Since 2009, Red Bull has been the most dominant force in F1 winning every season. The rule changes of 2009 ensured that every successive year, the new car would be an evolution of that old car. And Newey and Horner knew they had started on the right foot since the beginning – year on year they kept improving the car, taking Vettel from strength to strength. From the hot/cold exhaust blowing to the controversial diffusers to the brake enhancement tools, it was the design and engineering of mastermind Newey that ensured that for four continuous years they received cars that were both superior in aerodynamic design and had the ability to withstand tyre degradation better than all the other cars, with respect to Pirelli’s new tyre compound.

For long, F1 critics have argued that its the car that has given the young German a huge advantage over the rest of the much-talented driver field, but like in any other sport, new people, spectators and fans are added every year.

Human beings cannot watch/enjoy sports without an attachment – whether it’s a flag, or a team, or an individual, you always need a hero to follow a sport. Post the 2010 season, a lot of young Vettel fans had emerged, believing that this was a resurrection of an old era, similar to the one dominated by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

In Vettel they saw a champion that had no match; he was invincible, much like his fellow German senior, the 7-time world champion I referred to earlier. The stats say that Vettel is almost on par, bearing in mind his age and career still left ahead:

Driver	Wins	Poles	World Titles
Michael Schumacher	91	68	7
Sebastian Vettel	39	45	4

But what these stats don’t tell you is that Schumacher won his titles in 1994-95 and then from 2000-2004 – that’s two different decades. He raced and won with two different teams, different cars, amidst very uncertain race conditions. There were seasons when he had a very strong car (2002), there were seasons he had to fight in an above-average/average car and make his way up. He has won races from pole as well as from qualifying outside the top 5 and fighting his way up in tough and dangerous situations.

We now sit in 2014, the rules have been changed again. Engines have become smaller, cars have become skinnier and its a different ball game all together. Red Bull has lost this bout; they may have a strong car, but their engine fails to compare against the Mercedes’ power train. And that’s apparent from this year’s performance with Lewis Hamilton winning three out of the first four races so far.

Vettel on the other hand has achieved one podium this year – he is struggling for pace and grip. The tables have turned; the once dominating team has now been replaced by their German rivals who have an aggressive combination of drivers lined up to take the throne. But what’s even more alarming is that he has been out-qualified by his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, who has managed to finish above him in three races. Ricciardo is 24-years-old and has raced for teams like HRT and Torro Rosso, In terms of experience, he has very little to his credit as compared to a his 4-time world champion teammate. Despite having a bad car, Ricciardo’s pace and ability is very much visible. He has overtaken and beaten the defending champion with much ease in the same car.

This brings to mind a lot of questions – was Vettel just a paper champion created by Newey and Horner to cement their dominance in the sport?

They had a Mark Webber who they could suppress and a team they could manipulate. Now that Mercedes has the best car out on the grid, will the coming years see them emerge as champions? Will they takeover the throne from Red Bull? Has the era of Red Bull racing ended?

And as a result has Sebastian Vettel’s era come to an end?