Sebastian Vettel’s father insists his son deserves his recent success in formula one.
The 24-year-old is on the cusp of becoming the sport’s youngest ever back-to-back world champion.

But some observers still question the young German’s wheel-to-wheel talents and give more credit to Adrian Newey, the designer of the dominant Red Bull cars of the last few seasons.

“I hear it over and over again, ‘Vettel only wins because he has the best car’,” his father Norbert told the Swiss Sunday newspaper Sonntagsblick.

“But first you have to get into the best car, and Seb worked hard for it.”

The Cologne tabloid said that, despite Vettel’s superstitions, Red Bull has manufactured special caps and t-shirts to mark his title victory at Suzuka this weekend.

Sebastian Vettel has revealed that he is yet to think up a name for his new formula one car.
Last year, the 23-year-old won his first title at the wheel of Randy Mandy, after the original RB6 named Luscious Liz was replaced due to damage after Monaco.

The giving of an amorous female name has become one of the Red Bull driver’s several F1-related superstitions, including the sliding of a lucky coin behind his boot laces.

When asked about his new RB7 wearing the coveted number 1 as it was launched at Valencia on Tuesday, Vettel told Welt newspaper: “The number looks good.

“I saw the car in one piece for the first time this morning. So I haven’t got a name for her yet,” he revealed.

Vettel was also asked about reports that his friend Michael Schumacher suffers from motion sickness at the wheel of driver simulators.

As for whether he has also been sick in a sim, he smiled: “Once, but only very briefly.

“I think it’s an important tool with testing so limited, especially with regards to (learning) the tracks,” added Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel has named his latest RB6 chassis ‘Randy Mandy’.

Giving his cars an amorous female name has become one of the 22-year-old German’s several F1-related superstitions.

He religiously steps into his cars and dismounts from the left-hand side, and slides a lucky coin behind the laces of his boot.

Vettel called his original 2010 Red Bull ‘Luscious Liz’, following on from its 2009 predecessor ‘Kate’s Dirty Sister’.

But Luscious Liz has been retired after the team found damage in the wake of the Spain/Monaco double-header, dominated emphatically by his teammate Mark Webber.

It emerges that Vettel will now be at the wheel of the fully-updated test car.

It has been a warm and sunny day at Istanbul Park, and more of the same ‘t-shirt weather’ is expected throughout the Turkish GP weekend.

(GMM)