Andrew Benson blog

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Pues eso....los red bull cargaditos y el F2012 recuperando la 'forma'.......

[maripi]

Fernando Alonso warns Ferrari need a ‘new direction’

Fernando Alonso has warned Ferrari need a rapid re-think on their new Formula 1 car if he is to have any chance of challenging for the title.

The Spaniard qualified only 12th for the Australian Grand Prix after spinning off and the team admit the car is not competitive.

"We are a little bit too slow at the moment," said Alonso.

"We need to change the direction quickly if we are to challenge for the championship. We have to react."
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Fernando Alonso

Ferrari drivers bemoan poor car

Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa could only qualify in 16th for the race in Melbourne's Albert Park.

The Ferrari drivers have been struggling with the car throughout the weekend - a situation that was expected after a difficult time in pre-season testing.

The team took a radical approach to this year's car in an attempt to challenge world champions Red Bull but appear to have made some fundamental errors in design.

Alonso said: "We are not competitive to fight for the top places at the moment, it is something we maybe knew or expected after winter testing.

"There is still a lot of work to do, we have to be more united than ever, we have to work.

"I'm sure we worked 24 hours a day before this race; now we need to work 25. It is the only way to improve the car and win races soon.

"The target was to start the championship with a competitive car.
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Gary Anderson

Ferrari need to redesign car - BBC pundits

"We didn't arrive at that target, we need to arrive as soon as possible with a winning car in the next couple of races."

Alonso would almost certainly have made it into the top-10 shoot-out had he not spun off in second qualifying.

The time that put him 12th was set on used tyres. He spun on the first corner of his first lap with new tyres, which would be in the region of 0.5 seconds quicker and he missed out by less than 0.2secs.

But Alonso put a brave face on the incident, saying it might put him in a better position for the race.

"I think I touched the grass and unfortunately there is the gravel and you stop and finish qualifying. It's a shame. I think we possibly could be a bit better, maybe top 10.

"If you go in Q3 you have no new tyres for the race so maybe at the end of the day it is a good compromise to be P12 with new tyres."
Image of Gary Anderson Gary Anderson BBC F1 Technical Analyst

"Ferrari's performance here has been worse than testing. The problem is in the aerodynamic package. They need to take a step backwards and look at the basic aero package. They'll have to go backwards to go forwards. They talked about an aggressive design but they have to have reasons for that and I think they've missed the boat. The way the front geometry is doesn't make the front tyres work well - but it's not one thing, it's a lot of stuff."

Asked if this was the worst car with which he had ever started a season, he replied: "No I don't think so, I think there were some championships we started more far away.

"For example last year, we started 1.4secs off pole position last year, today we were one second, so in a way we are closer than last year."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17413395

[Alfaster-F1]

[maripi]

Button gets 2012 season off to a flier

Button admitted to BBC Sport after the race not only that he always gets "nervous-excited" before grands prix, but that he was more nervous before this one than perhaps any other.

One assumes it was founded in the knowledge that after starting his first two seasons at McLaren with cars that were off the pace of the Red Bull, he now had a real chance of getting his year off to the best possible start.

Contrary to appearances, that nervousness led to a slight error at the start. After a superb initial getaway, Button went for second gear too early, which delayed his charge to the first corner.

Luckily for Button, Hamilton had also had a bad start, and with the inside line, the corner - and, as it turned out, the victory - were his.

Ironically, the win bore more than a slight resemblance to many of Vettel's in 2011.

Button went off like a frightened rabbit in the first two laps, the aim being to be far enough ahead at the start of lap three - when the drivers are first allowed to use the DRS overtaking aid - to ensure he was out of reach of his pursuers.

Rather than ease off, though, Button just kept going, a succession of fastest laps moving him more than three seconds
clear within six laps, after which it stabilised.

So dominant was Button that even had Hamilton converted his lead at the start into one at the end of the first lap, it is difficult to imagine that the result would have been any different.

Hamilton cut a subdued figure after the race, giving short, quietly-spoken answers to questions. He admitted he "didn't generally have great pace" and, after producing a stunning lap in qualifying to take pole, was clearly not expecting Button's demoralising
performance.

Hamilton's mood will not have been helped by losing out on second place to Vettel, largely through bad luck.

After leaving the two cars out slightly too long before their first pit stops, McLaren did exactly the right thing in stopping them one after the other for their second.

It was Hamilton's bad luck that he was delayed by the introduction of the safety car on the very next lap, allowing Vettel to sneak ahead.

Vettel said after the race that he would have "had a crack" at Hamilton even without that stroke of good fortune.

But the two cars were evenly matched and if Hamilton, whose car was faster on the straight, was not able to pass Vettel it seems unlikely that Vettel would have been able to overtake the McLaren.

The manner of Button's victory - Vettel described him as "unbeatable" - led to inevitable questions about whether McLaren will now dominate this season in the way Red Bull did last.

But as Hamilton said, it is "too early to tell" if McLaren are comfortably ahead of Red Bull.

"In qualifying we're quite quick and competitive," he said, "but they were massively quick in the race. I think they're still a force to be reckoned with."

Vettel, meanwhile, proved once again how ridiculous it ever was to suggest he could not race - his move around the outside of Nico Rosberg at Turn Nine on lap two was hugely impressive.

Behind the top two teams, an intriguing race has set the season up nicely.

Romain Grosjean made some errors befitting his semi-novice status as he squandered his excellent third place on the grid, but his Lotus team look like they could have the pace to challenge close to the front if they have a clean weekend.

Mercedes' race pace was a disappointment after their impressive form in qualifying - which extreme was the true representation of their competitive position remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso dragged his Ferrari up to fifth place with a typically resilient and impressive performance, although the car's lap times once the race settled down suggested the team still have a lot of work to do.

The mixed-up grid, caused by typical early seasons problems for Red Bull, Alonso and Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying, led to some superb battles throughout a race that seemed to confirm the impression of pre-season testing that the grid has closed up this year.

"We all think this is a special year in F1 with six world champions and so many competitive teams," Button said. "F1 is in a special place and it's a great sport to be a part of."

Malaysia next weekend will provide further evidence of what lies ahead. Button and Hamilton, for very different reasons, will be anxious to get on with it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/....html#more

[maripi]

There are, it turns out, two Kimi Raikkonens.

The public face of the 2007 world champion, who has returned to Formula 1 this season after two years in rallying, is of a monosyllabic, monotone, unsmiling figure, energised only the moment he steps into a racing car.

The one who emerges in private is very different - a talkative, jocular man, who can happily sit and shoot the breeze like anyone else.

As Lotus trackside operations director, Alan Permane has worked closely with Raikkonen since he joined the team last November.


Kimi Raikkonen has been perceived as cold and uncommunicative. Photo: Getty

The 32-year-old Finn, Permane says, "is happy to sit and talk, not only about technical stuff, but laughing and joking and talking rubbish with his engineers about all sorts of stuff".

He is just not interested in any of his dealings with the media and, unlike his rivals, doesn't bother to hide it.

Permane worked with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso through the title-winning years with the team formerly known as both Benetton and Renault. He has been impressed with Raikkonen from the start.

Raikkonen first drove one of the team's cars at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia in late January. Straightaway the team knew they had something special.

He had not driven an F1 car since the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and had no experience of the Pirelli tyres he was using. Yet, after a single installation lap to check the car's systems were working, his first flying lap was within a few 10ths of a second of the fastest lap he would do over the next two days.

The good impressions did not go away.

Permane said, "He has never driven a car with a full load of fuel in it.

"We went from 30-160kg [of fuel load in Valencia] to show him that's the sort of difference you can expect - certainly from qualifying to race it's even bigger than that.

"We calculate the lap time difference the fuel load will make and his first lap was absolutely spot on that difference. That is impressive."

After that, Raikkonen did another 20 laps, each one exactly 0.1secs slower than the last - the lap time lost by tyre degradation.

There is a widespread belief that Raikkonen is as unforthcoming in his technical debriefs as he is in public, but that, too, appears to be a fallacy.

Lotus have found his comments in debriefs to be not only lengthy but very perceptive, too.

He was slightly quicker than new team-mate Romain Grosjean throughout pre-season testing, so it was a surprise that he was about 0.2secs slower than the Franco-Swiss semi-novice in the practice sessions in Melbourne.

Equally, the errors Raikkonen made on his qualifying laps that left him down in 18th on the grid betrayed a certain ring-rustiness, as well as perhaps the pressure he was feeling from Grosjean's pace.

In the race, though, something of the old Raikkonen returned as he fought back up from his low starting position to take seventh place by the end.

Clearly, though, there is more to come.

Raikkonen is not entirely happy with the feel he is getting from the Lotus's steering, but Permane plays down the significance of the problem.

"He's very particular," Permane says. "He knows what he wants and it's not quite to his liking. It's not a million miles away, but we'll get it there."

Raikkonen can drive perfectly well with the steering as it is, but the problem probably does mean that he is driving a little below his maximum.

The question now is, at what level is his maximum?

The reason Raikkonen left F1 in the first place was because he performed for Ferrari for much of 2008 and 2009 way below the level expected of him.

Ferrari, in fact, terminated Raikkonen's contract a year early and paid him not to drive in 2010 so they could bring in Alonso.

The Spaniard has since out-performed Felipe Massa, the man who generally had the better of Raikkonen from the start of 2008 until fracturing his skull in an accident in Hungary in July 2009.

Does this mean Alonso is that much better than Raikkonen? Or that Raikkonen in 2008-9 was a long way below his best? Or that Massa is not the driver he was?

No one knows for sure, but for Raikkonen's comeback to be considered an unqualified success he will have to be able to match his new team-mate's pace.

The fact Lotus have regrouped over the winter and produced one of the year's fastest cars only increases the pressure - it's not so bad to be beaten by a team-mate when you're battling to get into the top 10; but a very different matter when you're fighting for the podium.

That, it appears, is what Lotus are in a position to do.

"We screwed up with the car last year," Permane says, "and we know we've done a lovely car this year, not only aerodynamically, but we've done a nice package mechanically."

So pleased are Lotus with the new E20 that Permane says he "dared to compare it with 2005", when Alonso won the first of his two titles.

That is not so much a measure of Lotus's realistic hopes as a reflection of how much the drivers like the car, and how well it responds to changes.

Nevertheless, the team are confident they can keep up with the break-neck development pace of the likes of McLaren and Red Bull and hold on to their position.

For Raikkonen, the requirement now is prove that he can go with them. So far, the signs are positive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/....html#more

[maripi]

"A bit more info on Ferrari. They are pinning their hopes for a title challenge this season on a major upgrade to the car that is scheduled to be ready for the fifth race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix. This will feature heavily revised rear bodywork in an attempt to improve rear downforce - a lack of which in slower corners is making the car very difficult to drive. Those who are interested in the technical side of F1 will know that a lot of attention has focused this season on the team's decision to go it alone in running pull-rod front suspension, and how much this might be a contributing factor to Ferrari's woes. I'm told by sources close to the team that this might bite the dust in the upgrade and be replaced by a more conventional push-rod set-up."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17486303

[maripi]

Alonso sets the standard



Andrew Benson | 14:59 UK time, Sunday, 25 March 2012

Fernando Alonso's face as he stood on the top step of the podium said it all - a mixture of extreme satisfaction, delight and disbelief.

"Incredible, incredible," he said in Spanish in his television interviews immediately afterwards, and that seemed as good a summing up as any of one of the most remarkable and thrilling grands prix for some time.

Alonso's victory was the 28th of his career and it moved him ahead of Sir Jackie Stewart in the all-time list of winners - he is now behind only Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell, whose 31 wins are his next target.

The Ferrari team leader's presence in such celebrated company is a reminder, as if one was needed, of what a great grand prix driver Alonso is and it was appropriate that his drive on Sunday was one that befitted such a landmark.


Fernando Alonso

Alonso moved up to fifth on the all-time victories list with his win in Malaysia. Photo: Getty

Arguably not the greatest qualifier, Alonso has produced some stunning races in his career, and the one in Malaysia on Sunday ranks up there with the very best.

The Ferrari in its current form has no business whatsoever being able to win a race. In normal, dry conditions, it is way off the pace of the McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Lotus, and almost certainly slower also than the Williams and the Sauber.

And yet there was Alonso, up in fifth place from eighth on the grid by the end of lap one, challenging world champion Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, which he moved ahead of thanks to stopping one lap earlier for wet tyres in the downpour that led to the race being stopped on lap six.

What won him the race, though, were the laps after the re-start.

He emerged in the lead on lap 16, helped by McLaren having to hold Lewis Hamilton in the pits as Felipe Massa came past.

After everyone had stopped for intermediate tyres, Alonso was 2.4 seconds ahead of Sauber's Sergio Perez - of whose stunning performance more later - and 6.2secs ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.

At that point, most would have expected Hamilton - one of the greatest wet-weather drivers in history - to close in on the two cars ahead of him. Instead, Alonso pulled away from Perez, who himself pulled away from Hamilton.

This was, as BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard said, "Alonso at his brilliant best", as he built an eight-second lead over Perez in 12 laps.

Alonso is such a benchmark, so peerless, so utterly relentless and unforgiving when he senses a sniff of a win, that it seemed impossible at that stage that he would not win the race.

But then Perez began to come back at him - showing the differing characteristics of the two cars that have been apparent since the start of pre-season testing. The Ferrari is hard on its tyres and the Sauber is the opposite.

Closer and closer Perez got, first by fractions, then by full seconds until by lap 40 he appeared to have Alonso at his mercy.

Stopping a lap earlier than Perez for 'slick' dry-weather tyres put his lead back up to seven seconds, but on these the Sauber was even more superior.

Perez was within a second of Alonso by lap 48 - with eight to go - and what would have been a fully deserved victory by a man who from the beginning of his career last year has looked destined for great things seemed inevitable.

F1 being what it is, a lot may well be made of the radio call that Perez received at about this point. "Checo, be careful, we need this position," he was told by his team, who use Ferrari engines. Was this simply a team that is known to be struggling for finance sensibly warning an excited young driver to make sure he didn't bin it when a valuable podium place was up for grabs? Or was it, as some will surmise, team orders in disguise, an order not to try to deprive the company on whose largesse they have depended in many more seasons than this one of a much-needed win? If it was a team order, Perez didn't seem to pay any attention - he continued to push hard until he made that fateful error. And team principal Monisha Kaltenborn dismissed any thoughts of a conspiracy.

"What we meant was get the car home," she said. "It was important to us to get the result - there was nothing else to it. There was no instruction."

Either of them would have been a deserving winner after two superlative drives - and there were other noteworthy performances down the field, too.

Bruno Senna showed something of his famous uncle's wet-weather skills with his climb up from last place at the restart to finish an impressive sixth.

And Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne, who narrowly missed out on a point on his debut last weekend in Australia, delivered in spades with a sure-footed drive in the treacherous conditions at Sepang.

The Frenchman was the only driver to stick with intermediate tyres in the early downpour, and he continued to perform impressively on his way to eighth place, just behind last year's rookie of the year Paul di Resta, who also looked good.

Senna, Vergne and most of all Perez clearly have bright futures ahead of them.

But ahead of them all was the man whose consistent excellence over a 10-year career not only they but everyone else in F1 has to aspire to.

"Great race for Alonso, top job, and also Perez," Jenson Button said on Sunday evening in Malaysia. You can say that again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/....html#more

[maripi]

La cara de Fernando Alonso cuando estaba en el escalón más alto del podio lo decía todo -. Una mezcla de satisfacción extrema alegría e incredulidad "Increíble, increíble", dijo en español en sus entrevistas de televisión inmediatamente después, y que parecía tan buena . resumir como cualquiera de una de las más notables y emocionantes grandes premios desde hace algún tiempo la victoria de Alonso fue el 28 de su carrera y le superó a Sir Jackie Stewart en la lista de todos los tiempos de los ganadores - que ahora está sólo por detrás de Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna y Nigel Mansell, cuyas 31 victorias son su próximo objetivo. La presencia del jefe del equipo Ferrari, en compañía célebre por ejemplo es un recuerdo, como si uno fuera necesario, de lo que un gran Gran Premio de piloto Alonso es y que era caso de que su unidad el domingo fue uno que correspondía a un punto de referencia.
Fernando Alonso

Alonso subió a la quinta posición en la lista de victorias de todos los tiempos con su victoria en Malasia. Foto: Getty Images

Podría decirse que no es el mejor calificativo, Alonso ha producido algunas carreras impresionantes en su carrera, y el de Malasia el domingo está a la altura del mejor. El Ferrari en su forma actual no tiene ningún tipo de negocio es capaz de ganar una carrera. En condiciones normales, secas, es muy lejos del ritmo de los McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes y Lotus, y casi con toda seguridad también más lento que el de Williams y Sauber el. Y sin embargo, fue Alonso, en quinto lugar de la octava posición en la parrilla al final de la primera vuelta, un desafío de Red Bull campeón del mundo Sebastian Vettel, que se movía por delante de agradecimiento a parar una vuelta antes de neumáticos de lluvia en el aguacero que llevó a la carrera se detuvo en la vuelta seis. Lo que le ganó la carrera, aunque , fueron las primeras vueltas después de la reanudación. Salió a la cabeza en la vuelta 16, ayudado por McLaren tener que mantener Lewis Hamilton en los boxes, ya que Felipe Massa llegó pasado. Después de todo el mundo se había detenido para los neumáticos intermedios, Alonso fue de 2,4 segundos por delante de Sergio Pérez Sauber - de cuyo impresionante rendimiento más tarde -. y 6.2secs por delante de Lewis Hamilton en McLaren En ese momento, la mayoría hubiera esperado de Hamilton - uno de los grandes conductores de mojado de la historia - para acercarse a los dos coches por delante de él. En cambio, Alonso se alejó de Pérez, quien se alejó de Hamilton. Este fue, como la BBC F1 co-comentarista David Coulthard dijo: "Alonso en su mejor momento brillante", como él construyó una ventaja de ocho segundos sobre Pérez, en 12 vueltas. Alonso es como un punto de referencia, de manera sin igual, tan absolutamente implacable y no perdona cuando siente una aspiración de una victoria, que parecía imposible en ese momento que no iba a ganar la carrera. Pero entonces Pérez comenzó a volver a él - que muestra la diferentes características de los dos coches que han sido evidentes desde el inicio de las pruebas de pretemporada. El Ferrari es duro para los neumáticos y el Sauber es todo lo contrario. Cada vez más cerca Pérez consiguió, por primera vez por fracciones, luego por segundos completos hasta la vuelta 40 parecía tener a Alonso en su misericordia. Detención de una vuelta antes que Pérez de "mancha de los neumáticos de seco puso la ventaja de nuevo hasta siete segundos, pero en estos Sauber fue aún más superior. Pérez estaba dentro de un segundo de Alonso en la vuelta 48 - con ocho para ir - y lo que habría sido una victoria totalmente merecida por un hombre que desde el comienzo de su carrera ha visto el año pasado destinado para grandes cosas parecía inevitable.

F1 siendo lo que es, mucho bien puede hacerse de la llamada por radio de que Pérez recibió en este punto. "Checo, tenga cuidado, necesitamos esta posición", le dijo a su equipo, que utiliza motores Ferrari. ¿Se trata simplemente de un equipo que se sabe que está luchando por la financiación con sensatez advierte un conductor excitada joven para asegurarse de que no la Papelera de una plaza de podio fue valiosa en juego? ¿O fue, como algunos conjeturan, las órdenes de equipo en el encubrimiento, no es un fin de intentar privar a la empresa en cuya generosidad que han dependido en muchas temporadas más de éste de una victoria muy necesaria? Si se trataba de una orden de equipo, Pérez no parecía prestar atención - continuó empujar con fuerza hasta que hizo que el error fatal. Y el director del equipo Monisha Kaltenborn rechazó toda idea de una conspiración.

"Lo que quería decir era tener el coche a casa", dijo. "Fue importante para nosotros para obtener el resultado - no había nada más que lo hubo ninguna instrucción.».

Cualquiera de ellos habría sido una merecida ganadora después de dos discos superlativos - y hubo otras actuaciones destacadas por el campo, también. Bruno Senna mostró algo de húmedo clima habilidades de su famoso tío con su ascenso desde el último lugar en el reinicio para terminar un impresionante sexto lugar. Y de Toro Rosso, Jean-Eric Vergne, quien estuvo a punto de un punto en su debut este fin de semana en Australia, entregado a raudales con una unidad de un andar seguro en las condiciones traicioneras en Sepang. El francés fue el único piloto que seguir con los neumáticos intermedios en la lluvia temprana, y siguió para llevar a cabo impresionante en su camino a la octava posición, justo detrás del novato del año pasado del año Resta Paul di, que también se veía bien. Senna, Vergne y, sobre todo, Pérez tienen claramente brillante Los futuros delante de ellos. Sin embargo, por delante de todos ellos era el hombre cuya constante excelencia en una carrera de 10 años, no sólo ellos sino todos los demás en la F1 tiene que aspirar. "Gran carrera de Alonso, el trabajo de la parte superior, y también Pérez," Jenson Button dijo que la noche del domingo en Malasia. Se puede decir que una vez más.

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[Alfaster-F1]

[maripi]

Vettel collision: A champion under pressure?

Andrew Benson | 12:47 UK time, Thursday, 29 March 2012
Sebastian Vettel's behaviour during and after the Malaysian Grand Prix has been causing a bit of a fuss in Germany over the past few days.

The media have lapped up his response to his collision with backmarker Narain Karthikeyan, in much the same way as their British counterparts would have done with a similar incident involving Lewis Hamilton, and Vettel has come in for a fair bit of criticism.

On the BBC after the race, Vettel called Karthikeyan an "idiot" for his role in the collision that cost the world champion fourth place.

Speaking in German, the word he chose was "cucumber" - a common insult in that country for bad drivers on the road.


Vettel faces increased competition from outside and inside his Red Bull Team. Photo: Getty/AFP

It has also been pointed out that shots from Vettel's onboard camera appear to show the 24-year-old Red Bull driver giving Karthikeyan a middle-finger salute as he drives past. This has led some to call for him to be punished by governing body the FIA, which so far is keeping a low profile on the matter.

Comparisons have been drawn with McLaren's Jenson Button - who also failed to score any points in Malaysia, but who reacted with his usual calm.

Vettel, some in Germany have said, doesn't know how to lose.

They point out that last year he won 11 races on his way to one of the most dominant championship victories in Formula 1 history. Failing to win four races in a row in that context, the critics say, should not elicit this kind of reaction.

Vettel has not spoken in public since leaving Malaysia, and Red Bull are shrugging it off.

After the race on Sunday, team principal Christian Horner defended Vettel's driving in the collision with Karthikeyan, saying that it was the Indian's "responsibility to get out of the way of the leaders as he is a lapped car".

Although the stewards penalised Karthikeyan for the incident, others are not sure it's quite so clear-cut.

One leading F1 figure told me: "It was completely Vettel's fault - he needed to give Karthikeyan more space. He only had to clear the last inch and he cut across the front of him. He was showing a bit of frustration and it bit him."

Certainly Vettel has found himself at the start of 2012 in a situation with which he is not familiar.

Vettel has had the fastest car in F1 since at least the middle of 2009, and he has used it to good effect.

But now things are different. Red Bull's new car is not a match for the McLaren, and it has also been behind one Mercedes and one Lotus on the grid in each of the first two races.

For a man who is as driven to win - to dominate even - as Vettel is, that will not be a comfortable situation.

Nor will it have escaped his attention that team-mate Mark Webber has so far out-qualified him in both races this year - again, quite a turnaround from 2011, when the Australian managed it only three times in 19 grands prix.

It is early days, but so far the comparison between the two Red Bull drivers looks much more like it was in the first part of 2010 - before the team started fully exploiting the exhaust-blown diffusers that dominated the last 18 months and which have been banned for this season.

Webber was never that comfortable in last season's Red Bull - and while he came to match Vettel on race pace in the second half of last season, he never really got on terms with him in qualifying.

Much of that was to do with the behaviour of the car on corner entry, where the exhaust-blown diffusers were so powerful in increasing performance.

Red Bull's decline has also coincided with the stiffening of the front-wing load test, an attempt to stop teams allowing the ends of the wing to droop towards the track at speed to increase downforce. Red Bull were noticeably better at doing this than the other teams.

It may be an unrelated coincidence, but this year's Red Bull suffers from understeer, a lack of front-end grip - a handling characteristic Webber is comfortable with, while Vettel prefers oversteer.

This is not the first time Vettel has been criticised for letting his emotion get the better of him when things are not going his way.

There was the infamous 'nutter' sign he directed at Webber following their collision in the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.

There were also mistakes in Britain, Belgium and Singapore that year as he very nearly gifted the world title to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, who lost it only after a strategic error in the final race.

Such was Vettel's domination in 2011 that it never arose- leading some to say he had reached a new level of maturity both in and out of the car.

The truth of that claim looks set to be tested this year, as Red Bull and Vettel struggle to regain a position that the driver at least seems to consider is rightfully his.

Meanwhile, his rivals will have been watching with interest.

Webber, Alonso, Button and Hamilton remember Vettel's behaviour in 2010 all too well.

Betraying his emotions in such an obvious way will be seen by them as a weakness - they will look at it and think he is rattled.

So it is true to say on the one hand that Vettel's reaction proves he is a winner.

But it is also the case that learning how to lose gracefully - as Button and Alonso, particularly, have learnt in recent years - also has its benefits.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/...on_un.html