Understanding and adapting to that demand has been the key to Vettel’s breaking of the code on how to get the best from his Red Bull over the past few years. Into 2012, the technology was limited by new regulations, and for a time Vettel’s advantage over Webber was small at best and sometimes not there at all. This had also been the case for a large part of 2010, when the technology was not present for most of the year.

However, by mid-season, teams were finding ways around the rules, and this has only been enhanced during 2013. The cars now have almost as powerful a blown-exhaust effect as in the full-fat 2011 season of cold and hot off-throttle/ on-throttle blowing. The bigger the effect, the bigger has been Vettel’s advantage.

With the banning of off-throttle blowing since the beginning of 2012 came the need to destabilize the rear of the car on corner entry. Because the boost in rear downforce was coming only as the driver stood on the throttle, a conventionally well-balanced car with a stable rear end going into the turn would heavily understeer once the driver stood on the gas. So, generically, F1 cars moved to becoming less stable into a turn. Red Bull took the concept way further than anyone else – and a major reason why was Vettel.

“Seb drives the car very much like a motocross or speedway rider on corner entry,” says Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner. “He is totally relaxed to have the car moving around beneath him as he turns in – and not many drivers are. I would say he’s developed that feeling and sensitivity over the years, because what is so impressive about his technique now is its repeatability.

We’ve seen fantastic things from him before, moments of brilliance, but this season what has been so outstanding is how he’s able to switch it on on demand. He’s driving to a fantastically high level all the time. It’s really on an elevated plane, I feel. I would put him against anyone in these cars, and I think he’d come out on top.”




It’s been Vettel’s adaptation to that generically unstable generation of car that’s allowed Red Bull’s aerodynamicists and vehicle dynamicists to push further along the path than others – and the further they go, the faster the car has become. This year, engine mapping techniques have evolved to vary the emphasis on cutting cylinders, bank to bank, according to which direction the corner is. In this way, cylinder cutting can be used to aid direction change. This has increased the demands upon the intelligence and dynamism of the driver’s right foot. He has to turn in with the cylinder cut enhancing the turn in,

then he has to get hard on the gas to boost the exhaust flow over the downforce-inducing devices at the back, halting the rear-end slide. But then he often has to revert back to part-throttle to prevent the rear wheels breaking traction. This fantastically intricate dance requires a supple mind combined with sublime feel for a car that is sliding around beneath him.

This is Sebastian Vettel’s area of magic – but only because this is the area where the advantage is to be found. Next year, a different blend will be required, and Vettel will doubtless ace that, too. He is so much more than a good driver in the best car. He’s an intrinsic part of why it’s the best car simply because he’s able to operate it in a way denied to most