Defending Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has admitted that he and Red Bull have a big task ahead of them next weekend in Australia, as the German driver faces an uphill struggle to win his tenth straight race.
Vettel won the final nine races of the 2013 season, equalling Alberto Ascari’s sixty-year-old record for consecutive victories (although the Italian’s feat is hotly disputed). Upon winning the final race in Brazil last November, attention soon turned to the Australian Grand Prix where Vettel could become the first driver to make it ten in a row.
However, after a very troublesome winter testing period and a number of problems with the RB10 car, Vettel has conceded that he faces an enormous task if he is to win at Albert Park.
“We didn’t do as much running as we would have liked in testing this year, so we have work to do in Melbourne, but it will be good to get to the first race,” Vettel explained. “It’s hard to know where we are; it’s fair to say that we’re not the favorites to win and we have to catch up with others that have completed more mileage, but we’ll do our best with the great people that we have working for the team.”
Throughout testing, the Renault-powered teams struggled with the new engines whilst those with Mercedes engines excelled. In Bahrain, all eight of the Mercedes-powered drivers finished in the top ten on the final timesheets, whilst Red Bull languished down the pecking order – quite the turnaround from five months ago.
Nevertheless, Vettel remains positive: “We have achieved a lot together and I know everyone is working flat out as normal. It’s a good event to start the season and there’s always a great atmosphere. Formula 1 racing is something that I love and I can’t wait to get going.”
Given Red Bull’s tendency to improve across the course of a season, it is far too early to write off the team’s title aspirations for 2014. However, Vettel may have to focus on damage limitation in the first few rounds of the year, picking up points and capitalizing on others’ misfortune.
