Sebastian Vettel in search of a fourth title with “Hungry Heidi”

To those who thought the reigning three-time world champion was satisfied with victories, Sebastian Vettel responded by naming his car “Hungry Heidi,” “Heidi the Hungry” in the language of Molière. The German has indeed made it a habit to give a nickname to each of his cars, starting with “Julia” and “Kate” before describing the RB5 as “Kate’s naughty sister.” In 2010, the German began the season driving “the curvaceous Liz” before changing the name along with the chassis, clinching his first world title at the wheel of “the libidinous Mandy.” In 2011, the Heppenheim native doubled down with “the eccentric Kylie” before joining the likes of Senna, Fittipaldi, and Lauda at the wheel of “Abbey” last season.

But while the nickname of his ride changes from year to year, Sebastian Vettel’s philosophy remains the same, season after season: “If I have a secret, it’s that I don’t think about what happened these last three years. […] Here, we have zero points for now, like everyone else. Therefore, everyone has the same opportunities. The cars haven’t really changed. Last year, we saw it was very close, so I don’t expect this year to be different,” the German commented during the FIA press conference on Thursday in Melbourne.

As in 2012, the Pirelli tires will undoubtedly spice up the competition, as evidenced by the recent private tests held in Barcelona, on the Circuit de Catalunya: « This year’s tests have probably been less conclusive than last year’s, so we’re arriving in Melbourne without knowing what’s going to happen, but I think it’s very exciting, like every year. […] I think that during the winter tests, we all suffered from the same issue: the tires didn’t hold up. It was extremely difficult for us to do many laps with the same set of tires to test certain things. We hope it will be better here, otherwise it could be quite fun. »

While he will naturally aim for victory at Albert Park, Sebastian Vettel is looking further ahead: “I think it’s going to be a long season. Obviously, we’re looking forward to this weekend and it’s the first of a long series, but I think we’ve seen in recent years, especially in 2012, that the season is long and each race is important.” The German also believes that the few changes made to this year’s regulations, notably the introduction of more stringent tests on wing flexibility and the restriction of DRS use to FIA-approved zones in practice and qualifying, will help to narrow the gaps between Red Bull and its rivals: “I think most of the changes regarding the front wing are an attempt to prevent us from doing something that we might have done better than others or that they couldn’t do. But it’s just another constraint, nothing new.”