Red Bull: Vettel is exhausted and Renault is a “handicap”
According to the team principal of Red Bull, Christian Horner, Sebastian Vettel is feeling the effects after five years of relentless battle for the Formula 1 World Championship title. He also commends the collective effort of his team to overcome the handicap of the Renault Sport F1 V6 turbo engine.
The reigning four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel, is experiencing a challenging 2014 season, suffering from the woes of a less competitive car and the surprising dominance of Daniel Ricciardo, who has outperformed him six times to one (in Germany) when both men finished the races.
Interviewed by *Auto Bild Motorsport*, Christian Horner, the director of the Red Bull team, explains that this situation is the combination of several things. First, when you have been fighting for the title for five years, it is quite exhausting, but that’s not the fundamental problem. The way Sebastian has extracted those few additional tenths from the car in recent years is quite exceptional. He is very sensitive to the behavior of the car, especially during braking.
Regarding braking, the Briton thinks that the German driver has lost some of his feel with the car because of the ‘brake-by-wire’ system, electronic-assisted braking. He adds: The driving enjoyment was really bad, so Seb couldn’t manage his tires the way he always had, like a ballerina, dancing on the throttle and brakes.
But he thinks that the world champion is gradually regaining his former speed. He points out that his pace in Hungary showed that he was getting his feel for the car back.
Then he reminds us that we cannot forget all the mechanical problems Sebastian had – many of them being just small things. So he had less time to adapt his driving style.
Regarding Red Bull’s performance compared to Mercedes, Christian Horner believes that his team has exceeded expectations. He explains: « Compared to the theoretical handicap we have [a 65-horsepower difference between the Renault engine and the Mercedes power unit, editor’s note], what we have achieved in the first half of the season is remarkable. Winning two races, securing two front rows on the starting grid, podium finishes, it’s a remarkable achievement, all things considered. Obviously, it’s not what we are used to, but the team has shown real strength of character to roll up their sleeves and fight back. »
