Who is going to stop Sebastian Vettel in 2013 Formula 1 season?
In the beginning of the 2012 F1 season, no one was expecting that Red Bull Racing will secure the constructors’ and the drivers’ championship for the third time in a row as the Austrian team was witnessed struggling with their 2012 car, the RB8.
However, with the help of Adrian Newey, the technical wizard of Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel was once again dominating the drivers’ championship towards the end of the season.
As Vettel becomes the youngest triple champion in the history of F1, it not only puts his name on the trophy along with the legends before him but also makes the challenge to maintain his position even tougher. Vettel himself has admitted that winning each
year is becoming more and more difficult. Without a doubt, the 2012 F1 season was the toughest for Red Bull so far with Vettel having to prove his much speculated driving abilities several times during the year.
In the upcoming 2013 F1 season, Vettel’s championship will be eyed by other competitive drivers on the grid amongst which the most prominent will be his rival from 2012, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Vettel and Alonso had remained rivals once before in the
2010 F1 season when the Spanish driver was in strong position and Vettel had taken the lead to win only in the final race of the season.
With the odds being reversed this past season, Vettel still won by three points. Having come so close to the championship twice against Vettel, Alonso will be very determined to challenge for the title once again. Alonso has requested his team to provide
a better car so that he can actually win instead of just coming close. Despite losing the title, he was voted as the best driver of the season by majority of the F1 community. Alonso will be looking forward to winning his third title after his first two with
Renault.
McLaren will be beginning their new season with Jenson Button partnered by Sergio Perez who is replacing Lewis Hamilton. As Hamilton moves to Mercedes AMG, Button will be leading the British team. Button’s first and only title was in the 2009 F1 season which
makes him the last driver to win the title before Vettel began his winning streak. He had won over Vettel by a significant margin of 11 points.
Button only won three races in 2012 which includes the final race in Brazil which he won after Hamilton had to retire from lead. McLaren were able to show good pace at various points of the season with good qualifying as well at the end of 2012 but the reliability
issues were hindering the progress of both drivers. If McLaren are able to solve these issues in 2013, then with the team’s focus shifted to Button, he is most likely to bring a championship challenge.
Lotus F1’s Kimi Raikkonen returned after remaining absent from F1 for two seasons. Ahead of his leaving, he was under speculation for having lost interest in the sport. However, he returned with a very consistent performance finishing all the races and scoring
in all of them but one. He was also very impressive over the track as he avoided any unwanted incidents. The Finnish driver finished third in the drivers’ championship and it is likely for him be challenging the title closely next year.
The F1 community waits for the 2013 F1 season with excitement so as to witness another epic fight for the championship.
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