With his second consecutive title now wrapped up, Sebastian Vettel is continuing to impress the international media.
The Red Bull driver secured his crown recently in Japan with a third place but quickly returned to the top step of the podium in Korea last Sunday.

“He is now chasing after Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season,” said Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“The celebrations at Suzuka did not rob Vettel of his determination,” added the report.

Other publications were also impressed with Vettel’s determination to win even without the goal of a championship.

“He is hungry for more success and never satisfied,” praised Corriere dello Sport.

Agreed Tuttosport: “Vettel is a cannibal, like his hero Schumacher.”

The German’s will to keep his foot on the throttle even with the title wrapped up was demonstrated by his unprecedented pace on the last lap in Korea.

“I think they (the team) will kill me now,” joked Vettel afterwards. “They came on the radio and said ‘idiot, you got it (the fastest race lap)’.

“It’s a small thing; it’s probably more to do with the ego because there are no points (for it) so it’s really stupid from my side but now I’ve got it, I’m happy.”

Mark Webber has admitted he was happy to settle for second place at Suzuka last weekend.

Already leading the world championship before Japan, the Australian finished the race one second behind his teammate, the pole sitter and winner Sebastian Vettel.

“Sebastian drove well and deserved to win,” Webber is quoted by Italy’s Autosprint magazine.

“I knew before the start that it would be difficult to win with him in pole position.

“I have no regrets about not trying to overtake him.  I could have (tried), but I thought about the championship.  And then overtaking at Suzuka is not easy.

“At this point you cannot make mistakes,” he continued.  “The points for second place are very important and it wasn’t worth the risk.

“The most important thing is that I have increased my advantage to the ones behind,” he added.

But even though Vettel, 14 points behind Webber, is equal on points with the charging Fernando Alonso, team boss Christian Horner insists there will be no favouritism through to next month’s Abu Dhabi finale.

“It’s not correct – as we’ve always said – for us to favour one driver over the other,” said the Briton this week.

It is clear, however, that there is still some needle in the Red Bull garage, with Webber fleeing Suzuka for a helicopter to Tokyo before the team’s traditional victory photograph.

He also beat Vettel’s fastest race lap on the final tour of the race; a “mind game” that must have caused “great angst” for their bosses, according to BBC commentator Martin Brundle.

And Vettel admits he was relieved when he saw Renault’s Robert Kubica, not Webber, behind him at the start of the Japanese race.

“Nothing against Mark or the team, but it would have made my life easier,” said the German, regretting that Kubica’s wheel soon fell off.

“That (Kubica’s retirement) was of course good for the team, but for the championship I would not have objected if he would have stayed in second.”

With McLaren’s charge fading and Fernando Alonso going it alone for Ferrari, the rivalry between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will be in the spotlight during the now three-race run to the 2010 world championship.

Red Bull’s racing duo, although separated by 14 points, are right in the fight for the drivers’ championship; an individual’s prize that often sees teams back one driver over the other.

This year has seen Vettel and Webber swing between being the obviously favoured son to the downtrodden number 2 driver, but team boss Christian Horner has once again reinforced their status of equality.

With Alonso charging alone with the – albeit reluctant – support of Felipe Massa, the competitive rivalry between Webber and Vettel, and the fact the pair are obviously not friends, is a problem for Red Bull.

But boss Horner insists: “We are fortunate to have two level-headed and strong-willed drivers.

“And while that inevitably poses challenges at times, it is a luxury problem to have,” he insisted.

It might be a luxury to have two competitive drivers in the running for the title, but with Ferrari’s solitary Alonso chasing their heels, Red Bull runs the risk of losing by not focusing on a single driver.

“The dream scenario would be to be able to pull out a big enough gap to all those behind that it was just down to them on track,” Horner admitted in Japan.

“But as a team we are trying our best to support both drivers equally and both drivers are very much still in this championship,” he added.

John Watson, a former race winner with McLaren, thinks it is the potential trouble in the Red Bull camp and resultant Turkey-like situations that might keep McLaren in the title fight.

At Suzuka for example, Webber pulled out a further 3 points in his championship lead simply by finishing behind Vettel.

But he couldn’t resist spoiling Vettel’s perfect day by bettering the young German’s coveted fastest race lap on the final tour.

“I couldn’t let him have a full house,” the Australian remarked.

Noted BBC commentator Martin Brundle: “The team must have great angst with the risks of this unnecessary mind-game late in the race.”

And Watson told the BBC’s radio Five Live: “I’m concerned by the internal machinations between the Red Bull drivers.

“That’s going to be the biggest ray of light for Hamilton and Button.”

Lotus is almost ready to begin fighting with F1′s established teams, according to Heikki Kovalainen.

The Malaysian backed outfit has been the most impressive of the sport’s three new entrants this year, particularly in the wake of a recent upgrade for the T127 car.

And despite Kovalainen retiring in Monaco with a steering problem, the Finn thinks Lotus is getting ready to make its next step.

“For a time I was able to drive at the same pace as the Renault of Petrov,” he is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo after the famous street race.

“We showed in Monaco that we are clearly the best of the new teams and that we will soon be able to fight with the teams in front of us.”

28-year-old Kovalainen’s was the fourteenth fastest race lap in Monaco, ahead of the Saubers and even Rubens Barrichello’s Williams.

(GMM)

With the Chinese Grand Prix taking place on 18th April in Shanghai, the team is preparing for its next trip to Asia. It will be the first race with new Technical Director James Key on board.

Pedro de la Rosa: “The Shanghai Circuit is one I really like and enjoy. The last time I raced there was in 2006 and I finished fifth. It is a good track with a very long straight and nice overtaking opportunities. Overall the circuit has a great variety of corners, including hard braking for a hairpin and other corners which flow nicely. We are working hard on improving the performance of our car. There are 16 races to go, so the season isn’t over by any means. Looking at the reliability I’m quite relaxed. What happened in Malaysia was extremely unlucky and will not happen again.”

Kamui Kobayashi: “I’m very excited to be racing in Shanghai for the first time in Formula One. I had a good weekend there with GP2 Asia in October 2008. I was second on the grid, set the fastest race lap and just missed winning after a safety car period. The circuit is very nice and the grandstand is really impressive. Actually I like the hard braking before the hairpin after the long straight. I feel it will be difficult for us in Shanghai, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. I generally like racing in Asia, and with Japan not being that far away I usually see more fellow countrymen there than in Europe. Shanghai as a city is an exciting place too, but unfortunately we don’t get to see much of it as the track is pretty far away from its centre.”

Technical Director James Key: “I’m looking forward to the first race with the team. I arrived in Hinwil after the Easter weekend and met a lot of people. I got a very good impression of what’s going on. There is obviously work to be done, but the spirit within the team and the motivation are very high. What is now beginning to emerge is the direction we need to go in. Everyone is pushing very hard, and we are making plans at the moment on the direction we should go in the future to keep developing. I haven’t been to the track this year, so it’s going to be interesting to see how things are run, learn a bit about the tyres and talk to the drivers. It will be the first time I see the C29, so it will be good to have a close look at it along with Willy Rampf and go through it in detail.”

“As far as the circuit is concerned, it’s a fairly similar downforce level to what we have experienced on the past three circuits. It’s another purpose built track with some interesting features. There’s a very long straight, therefore downforce is a compromise. It’s a fairly high grip track, which might mean taking a little bit of wing off. Braking stability and traction are very important, and you have those two snail like corners which are tricky for the drivers. We have to see how the cars and the tyres deal with it. We hope for the best and will try to get some points.”