As was feared by its rivals before Monza, Red Bull erased its final lingering weakness with Sebastian Vettel’s dominance of the Italian grand prix.
In recent seasons, Adrian Newey’s blue, yellow and red single seaters have been arguably the best when downforce is a premium, but not as good when the Renault engines must cope with long stretches of asphalt.

“The difference between this year’s car and last year’s car here at Monza is huge,” said runaway championship leader Vettel after Sunday’s win, according to O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

His teammate Mark Webber agreed: “The tracks where you do not need high downforce were our biggest problem. So I think our biggest improvement this year was in that area.”

Felipe Massa, whose 2011 Ferrari car has struggled this year on hard tracks and in cold temperatures, fully agrees.

“Red Bull have managed to develop a car that is capable of being fast and reliable on any track and in any kind of temperature,” said the Brazilian.

“They have a big advantage,” agreed his teammate Fernando Alonso.

“As the regulations will not change much for 2012, we need to find more than one second in our car for next year, which will not be easy,” the Spaniard admitted.