Red Bull has already produced the t-shirts to mark Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 world championship victory.
The German is tipped to secure the single point he needs to mathematically wrap up his second consecutive drivers’ crown next weekend in Japan.

And according to the Bild-Zeitung daily, Red Bull has jumped the gun by producing a run of white t-shirts bearing Vettel’s logo and the words “2011 F1 drivers’ world champion”.

It will be sold for EUR 29.95, Bild added.

Actually, however, the 24-year-old is highly superstitious and refusing to count on his title victory until it is definitely in the bag.

“Statistically the chances are on our side but generally in sports there have been a lot of stories written, and this one also has to wait to be closed,” he said.

Swiss newspaper Blick reports that Vettel and his parents Norbert and Heike therefore hosted a “One-Point-Missing-Party” in the Singapore paddock late on Sunday.

One interesting attendee was Luca Colajanni, the Ferrari team spokesman.

Sebastian Vettel was sworn at by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso after winning the Italian grand prix at Monza two weeks ago.

That is the unconfirmed claim of the German daily Bild-Zeitung, who said Spaniard Alonso whispered in the ear of championship Vettel before the Monza podium: “F*ck you, my boy”.

Earlier, to the passionate Tifosi’s chagrin, Vettel had passed Alonso to lead the race, a move the Red Bull driver described as “very hard but fair”.

Afterwards, the team’s outspoken Dr Helmut Marko said it was “good to show Alonso how the wind blows”.

Double world champion Alonso however denies Bild’s claim that he insulted Vettel.

“We chatted briefly but it was quite normal and friendly,” said the Spaniard.

Bild said Vettel would not comment.

But in an interview with the German broadcaster RTL, he talked about having the respect of his rivals.

“It’s important to me that I can feel it,” said the 24-year-old, “even if you have had an extremely tough race.”

Should Vettel extend his huge lead by another 13 points in Singapore, he will be crowned champion with five races still to run in 2011.

An analysis by Financial Times Deutschland said that with 27 per cent of the calendar to go, Vettel’s achievement will rank among the best in F1 history.

But Jim Clark (1963 and 1965), Jackie Stewart (1969 and 1971) and Nigel Mansell (1992) actually secured those championships in an even more rapid manner.

And the record is held by Michael Schumacher, who won the title with more than 35 per cent of the 2002 calendar still to run.

At least Red Bull figures are now starting to admit the inevitability of Vettel’s 2011 triumph.

“In many ways it’s more of a challenge to defend a title,” said Vettel’s boss Christian Horner. “It’s one thing to win a title, another to stay up there,” he told Die Welt newspaper.

“Sebastian just gets stronger and stronger.”

Dr Helmut Marko has questioned the timing of the FIA’s blown exhaust clampdown.
Charlie Whiting told the teams in London on Thursday that restrictions on the sophisticated off-throttle systems will apply as of Silverstone in July, ahead of a total ban in 2012.

Some commentators have seen the mid-season ban as an attempt to curb the dominance of Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull team pioneered the current technology.

“Inventions such as the double diffuser and the F-duct were both banned at the end of the year,” Marko, Red Bull’s motor racing consultant, told German Bild-Zeitung newspaper.

“Now we see a ban in the middle of the season. That’s pretty strange.

“What we hope now is that it doesn’t hit us any harder than it does Renault, Mercedes and McLaren, while Ferrari is most certainly looking to gain an advantage,” claimed Marko.

Red Bull Racing has given the strongest indication yet that it is ready to renew Mark Webber’s contract for 2011.

In the wake of his dominance in Spain and Monaco, chiefs of the Austrian-owned team indicated they are keen to keep the 33-year-old Australian alongside Sebastian Vettel next year.

But Red Bull’s motor sport advisor Dr Helmut Marko signalled recently that joint championship leader Webber’s back-to-back wins could have an effect on the “salary negotiations”.

Ahead of the Turkish grand prix, team principal Christian Horner hinted to Germany’s Bild-Zeitung newspaper that Red Bull is ready to simply extend Webber’s current deal.

“If we sat down together on the subject of a contract extension, it would be a pretty short conversation,” said the Briton.

Red Bull’s three title rivals are conspiring against the team with a common goal — to rein in the dominance of the RB6 car.

According to Germany’s Bild-Zeitung tabloid, the dramatic solution was devised after Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber scored every pole position in 2010 so far, and then pulled even further ahead with developments debuted in Barcelona last weekend.

Bild said the “secret pact” between McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes involves the “exchange of data” about the technical superiority of the latest car designed by Adrian Newey.

Ross Brawn is quoted as saying: “In some areas Red Bull have gone in different directions.  Our people are looking at it closely.”

And Ferrari’s Stefano Domenical is quoted by L’Equipe: “Red Bull has taken a big step forward in performance (in Spain).  We saw it Friday and Saturday and with Mark’s performance on Sunday.

“This is a reference for us.  We are not overstating it but we have to look more carefully at it and understand,” he added.

It was earlier wrongly believed that the RB6 was hiding some sort of variable ride-height system, but Bild reveals that one of the actual reasons for the car’s competitiveness is the exhausts.

We reported during the February tests that Red Bull had put stickers on the car to make it look like the exhausts were located conventionally, when in fact they were located much lower.

Bild said the lower exhausts, hidden from view by six mechanics on the Barcelona grid, contribute to the car’s superior aerodynamics.

It is also reported that Red Bull could begin using a McLaren and Ferrari-like F-duct system at Istanbul in two weeks.

Gerhard Berger told APA: “They are clearly the championship favourites.  Even without the air-duct, Red Bull are the fastest.”

(GMM)

The former grand prix winner is in the Barcelona paddock this week as the team principal of the new GP3 team RSC Mucke, which has performed strongly in Spain.

Asked by Germany’s Bild-Zeitung, the 34-year-old refused to rule out one day turning his management skills to F1, where he won 6 of his 182 career grands prix.

“I am very interested in the view from outside of the cockpit,” DTM driver Schumacher admitted.

(GMM)