After Sebastian Vettel’s first win of the season in Bahrain recently, Red Bull could now maintain its grip on 2012.

That is the claim of the legendary triple world champion Niki Lauda.

Red Bull has been the dominant force since late 2009 and 2010, and Vettel was untouchable last year as he successfully defended his drivers’ championship breakthrough.

But four different teams have won so far in 2012, and only the last of them were Red Bull and Vettel, as the energy drink-owned team’s superiority appeared to have waned.

After Bahrain, however, Red Bull and Vettel are back, Lauda told Germany’s Auto Bild Motorsport.

“In Bahrain, they got the car and the tyres right for the first time, and they won,” said the Austrian.

“They will have improved the car further in Mugello, so I see enormous potential for another dominant season,” he added.

Lauda acknowledged that the blown diffusers of the past seasons was Red Bull’s “great strength”, and now that is gone.

“Nevertheless, Red Bull is the team to beat,” he insisted.

Sebastian Vettel’s Suzuka crash was an embodiment of the kind of “perfect year” he has enjoyed in 2011.
That is the claim of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, referring to the Red Bull driver’s nudge into the Degner wall on Friday morning.

The fact Vettel lost no track time, because the crash happened right at the end of the session and the mechanics had enough time to repair the car for the afternoon, shows that “When you do everything right, everything goes right for you”.

“This has been a perfect year for him, also with a tremendous superiority of his car,” Alonso is quoted by the EFE news agency.

“He has always done a perfect job in the moments that he had to; with his pole positions, in the races, with his problems only on the Fridays.

“There have been some extremely difficult races, for example in the rain in Canada where he managed to stay calm to finish second.

“It is true that he has had some luck but he has done the perfect job at the key moments,” the Spaniard added.

On Suzuka, Alonso said Vettel might finally be challenged by a rival team – McLaren – in the qualifying hour, with championship rival Jenson Button topping every practice timesheet.

But the Briton played down his tiny mathematical chances.

“It’s like challenging a four year old to a 100 metre race. You’d totally destroy him,” said Button.

Red Bull could lose up to five tenths of a second per lap when the exhaust blowing clampdown takes effect at Silverstone next weekend.
But team boss Christian Horner has thrown a cat amongst the pigeons by saying on Austrian television Servus TV that, until now, the RB7 has only been benefitting from “cold blowing”, not the “hot” concept that is so effective when the drivers are off the throttle under braking and in corners.

“In our case, this (effect) happens only with cold-air blowing. Other teams blow hot air and get even more benefit,” said the Briton.

If true, Red Bull’s key rivals might fall even further away from the pace of the dominant RB7 in Britain and beyond.

“How this affects us compared to the others, we will only see at Silverstone. According to our simulation it’s as much as 3 to 5 tenths and perhaps a bit more with some other teams,” said Horner.

Former F1 driver Karl Wendlinger said: “I believe Red Bull’s superiority will be greater at Silverstone. The (exhaust) system is being banned for all but Adrian Newey is a genius in aerodynamics and this is very important at Silverstone.”

But McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa told EFE news that “nobody has the foggiest idea” how precisely the field will line up in Britain.

“It will have a strong impact and the cars will be slower because of the lost downforce,” he said.

“There is a ray of hope, as we all know which car was the pioneer of the technique and have been able to maximise the performance better than anyone else,” said the Spaniard, presumably referring to Red Bull.

At least Timo Glock is aware of the effect that the clampdown will have on his struggling Virgin car.

“We have never benefitted from this technology, so for us, everything stays the same,” the German told Auto Motor und Sport.

Sebastian Vettel sounds unlikely to voluntarily fall in line behind Mark Webber as Red Bull pushes for its first ever drivers’ world championship.

Although heading for the championship lead in Korea before his engine failure, Vettel is now 25 points off Fernando Alonso.

It means Ferrari’s Spanish driver is the favourite for the title, with Vettel’s Australian teammate Mark Webber the most likely challenger due to his 11 point deficit.

But Germany’s Bild newspaper said it sounds unlikely that Vettel is going to give up.

“Nothing is going to change in my approach to the final two rounds,” he is quoted as saying. “My (engine) failure makes everything more interesting and difficult. But it is still possible.

“I am going to fight until the end,” Vettel vowed.

Like McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh who is in a similar situation, Red Bull chief Christian Horner said before leaving Korea that team strategy will be discussed internally before the season’s penultimate event in Brazil.

Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi thinks Red Bull made a big mistake by not establishing a hierarchy some time ago.

“They needed to take advantage of the fact they had the best car,” the Frenchman told CNR Media. “It’s doubtful they will have the same advantage next year, so you have to say they have mismanaged this season.

“I think they’ve missed a great opportunity,” added Alesi.

Joan Villadelprat, a veteran F1 team manager who now operates his own Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi, agrees.

“There has been a lack of solidarity at Red Bull, who have not been able to manage their superiority and are now giving the title away to Ferrari,” he wrote in his El Pais newspaper column.

“When a double world champion like Alonso takes the kind of advantage he has now, he does not fail,” the Spaniard added.

A perfect race in style Dani Pedrosa. Honda HRC only rival plausible (although the large gap from the top) Jorge Loranze for the drivers’ title, failed to complete what he had left unfinished twelve months ago, when after showing superiority embarrassing trial after pole, was sadly slipped in the race.

This year in Indianapolis, things went in a radically opposite: no first row of the grid, but overwhelming victory over their rivals, thanks to an impressive race pace that allowed him to take off their rivals, despite a Ben Spies in good form. Third win of the season, MotoGP career best route plan and a hope to replicate in the next stage, scheduled over the weekend that is at Misano Adriatico.

“I am very happy with this victory”, said Dani Pedrosa, “and it was very hard since the heat today. I have made the perfect start, but I was quickly into the first corner, staying close to the leaders. My pace was good and was in great shape despite Spies have managed to close the gap and pass. I am very happy with the performance of the bike because it was fast straight, and works well in corners. When I found myself in the head was hard to remain concentrated at the end of the race I was very tired but very happy because last year I fell and I could win.

There were many incidents this weekend and could easily make a mistake in the race, you just go a bit ‘from the ideal line and immediately find yourself on the ground, especially after the race when the tires are worn. I passed the barrier of two wins in MotoGP season and so I’m very happy. We are doing a good job and I hope we can maintain the level in the next weekend at Misano. I want to thank the team and all the people around me on this success. ”