Red Bull Racing expected to hit back at 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix – Formula 1
Red Bull Racing is expected to hit back at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix which is going to be held at Sepang International Circuit this weekend.
The defending champions had been deemed as the most favourite team for this year’s championship but could not able to dominate in the first Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday.
In the first race of the season, Red Bull pair of drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, finished at second and fourth positions while McLaren drivers, Jenson Button claimed the victory and his teammate, Lewis Hamilton secured the third podium.
Red Bull had been winning the championship title from the past couple of year. Additionally, they completely dominated during the last season in which 11 wins out of 19 races were claimed by the two-time world champion, Vettel.
It would be important to mention that Red Bull faced some issues in the car during the last day of the final pre-season test this year, held at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, due to the upgrades made in RB8 and they could only be able to complete only
23 laps while they stood last in the timesheets.
Nonetheless, regardless of the problems being faced, Red Bull Racing had still been considered as the front-runner for this year’s title while Vettel had been the sighted as the out-and-out favourite for the championship.
After the qualifying on Saturday, on securing the second podium in the first race on the next day, Vettel expressed that the results were not that bad for the team.
In addition, he warned McLaren that they had a master plan for the second race while he was positive that they would be successful in exploring the potential of the car just within the time of the next few approaching races.
“The car has huge potential and that gives us all a bold feeling,” Vettel was quoted by the official Formula 1 website. “But what this weekend also demonstrated is that we are not where we want to be - but we have a master plan.”
Furthermore, Vettel’s teammate, Webber was confident about the podium fight in the first race even after the unfortunate qualifying on Saturday in which he finished at fifth place. But afterwards he had to settle at the fourth finish in the first GP.
Besides, team principal of Red Bull, Christian Horner stated that McLaren was only able to claim the victory at the first race because they did not perform well.
“We were right on same pace as the McLarens and could have been faster. Overall it was a good recovery. I think we underperformed rather than McLaren being overly strong and that is the story - we can prove it next time we race,” he said.
Red Bull expectantly will make a strong fight back in the next race this weekend. Moreover, the hopes are high for the defending champions for their consecutive third victory at the end of this season. However, the standings of the contenders will come into
sight as the season will uncover.
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