Hamilton makes Vettel and Red Bull the favorites for the title in 2013
If Murray Walker believes that Sebastian Vettel should be able to break Michael Schumacher's records, Lewis Hamilton, for his part, considers, in the shorter term, that the German is the frontrunner for the 2013 season. The Briton notably thinks that Red Bull should maintain its end-of-season momentum by relying on an RB9 that will be an evolution of the world championship-winning RB8.
At 25, Sebastian Vettel became the youngest triple world champion in Formula 1 history, laying further foundations for a career that some predict could be one of the most prolific: He is in a position to break Schumacher’s record. It was unthinkable until recently, but records are there to be broken and they generally are, predicted the iconic commentator, Murray Walker, in the British edition of the newspaper Metro. Vettel is in a much better position at 25 than Michael was, and he has another ten, maybe fifteen years ahead of him. So, if he doesn’t break the record, it will mean he hasn’t made the right career choices. But he’s a very smart guy and I don’t think he’ll make bad choices.
Unlucky competitor in 2012, Lewis Hamilton believes that Sebastian Vettel is well on his way to quadruple his winnings next season: “It’s going to be hard to beat Sebastian next year. I think Sebastian will have another great car,” predicts the Englishman to Sky Sports. “The car he had this year was fantastic. Next year’s will be an evolution of it. Adrian [Newey] seems to be getting better with age; I think next year as well, he’s going to do something quite special.”
However, after a 2012 season where he once again spectacularly demonstrated his responsiveness, Adrian Newey takes nothing for granted: “It’s more difficult because there is no real regulation change compared to this year, and it will be the fifth season since the changes made in 2009,” the British engineer analyzes with Autosport. “The field is tightening up, and you can see how competitive it is in the fact that there have been eight different winners this season. […] In every race, there are so many variables that can cause fluctuations between the cars. There has been a lot of talk about the tires, and they are important: each car will work its tires slightly differently compared to other competitors. Sometimes, a particular circuit or a specific temperature can better suit certain cars over their rivals.”
The RB9 should therefore continue in the same vein as the RB8, especially since Adrian Newey reveals that there will be no surprises, which should indeed allow Sebastian Vettel, and the Red Bull team, to aim for a fourth consecutive world championship. Nevertheless, despite the current domination of the Austrian team and the concern it raises about viewers growing weary, as was the case during the Schumacher years, Murray Walker believes that Formula 1 is experiencing one of its golden ages: I used to say that the 1980s were a golden period but the last three seasons have surpassed that. There have been three magnificent seasons, each seeming better than the last when we didn’t think it was possible. The 2012 finale in Brazil was incredible, with Vettel spinning out and coming back to become a triple champion. Bernie Ecclestone is accused of orchestrating this type of race, but if he did for this one, he’s an absolute genius.
