Sebastian Vettel admits that Mark Webber handled the RB8 better in early 2012 – Formula 1 news
Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel has admitted that his teammate, Mark Webber, was better at handling the RB8 in the beginning of the 2012 F1 season.
“I just felt more comfortable in the car [in the second half of the season],” Vettel explained. “The balance was better for me than it was at the beginning, which caused problems especially in qualifying. For a long time I was not happy with the exhaust,
even though it brought more downforce than the old version. I couldn’t play with the car the way I wanted, to fit my driving style. I get my speed in the corners in the entry, while Mark is better at the exit. Only the last ‘Coanda’-solution got me close to
what we had last year.”
As the 2012 F1 season began, all F1 teams were having problems with the new exhaust systems introduced and also the tyre changes by Pirelli. The beginning was inconsistent as there were seven different drivers who won the first seven Grands Prix.
Webber’s performance was much better than that of Vettel’s during the first half of 2012 since he won two races as compared to Vettel’s single victory in Bahrain. Also, by the time the season headed towards Belgium, Webber was trailing Ferrari’s Fernando
Alonso, who was leading the championship at that time, by forty points.
Even Red Bull’s chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, has admitted recently that he was worried about the RB8 ahead of the 2012 F1 season. He said that it was frustrating that they could not understand the car.
However, Vettel levelled up his performance from Singapore after which he won four consecutive races till the Indian GP and then also maintained his lead right till the end of the season in Brazil.
Vettel did not win the exciting Brazilian GP but won his third consecutive F1 title despite his sixth place in the race as compared to Alonso’s second. Vettel beat Alonso by three points to become the youngest triple champion in the history of F1.
This is the second time that Vettel and Alonso had become rivals for the championship; the first time being in 2010 when Vettel won his first title.
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