IT usually doesn't pay to read too much into the results from the first couple of races in a new Formula One season, but what the hell?
If you are Sebastian Vettel, already 50 points to the good, and looking even more accomplished and indomitable than while securing the world title last year, life is sweet and there is every chance that his winning sequence, achieved in Australia and Malaysia, will continue in China next weekend.
If you are in the chasing pack at McLaren or Ferrari, be afraid -- be very afraid.
The most depressing feature for these teams is that they have plenty of reason to be despondent. Lewis Hamilton, fresh from incurring a 20-second penalty -- along with Fernando Alonso -- could hardly have looked any more deflated yesterday if he had discovered that the Pussycat Dolls had decided to swap the CD-and-concert circuit for a convent.
Alonso, for his part, could barely conceal his frustration with the manner in which Ferrari toiled to cope with the speed of the Red Bulls and that partially explained why he was the architect of his own downfall, when he strove to pass Hamilton for the final podium place, and only succeeded in plunging down the standings.
This might be the fashion in which spring turns to summer, and Vettel’s rivals struggle to close the gap. Unlike in 2010, there is scant prospect of the German being affected by nerves or engaging in wrangles with his team-mate, Mark Webber. On the contrary, the 23-year-old has visibly grown into his role, he realises that the momentum lies with Red Bull, and that the best means of avoiding trouble is to seize a race by the scruff of the neck and go for the jugular.
If you are blessed with a blazing vehicle, driven by a genuine superstar, backed by a fiercely-competitive, highly-motivated organisation, you can leave the others to fret and fumble.
The arithmetic doesn’t offer much relief for McLaren, Ferrari, or Williams, who had to watch both Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado fail to finish for the second consecutive event. With Mercedes thus far reduced to bit-part status -- it must be awfully embarrassing for Michael Schumacher -- it seems we can anticipate a pulsating fight for the minor spots in the title joust.
It is difficult to imagine that Hamilton, Button and Alonso won’t reduce the deficit on the current leader once the grand prix caravan has returned to Europe, but it is the sheer scale of the improvements they require which must gnaw away at their resolve and sap their spirit.
Quite simply, Vettel, a man entirely at ease with himself, was in a class of his own in Malaysia, and already has a 24-point advantage in the standings.
By Sunday night, it could rise beyond 30 and, considering his team’s reliability, there is no logical reason why that pattern won’t continue for the foreseeable future.
The rest of the field have to trust they can transform matters, and do it swiftly, but for all that Hamilton, for instance, is an instinctive speedster, he can’t do anything when his car isn’t up to the task.
Ultimately, Red Bull’s principal, Christian Horner, shares an uncanny symbiosis with Vettel, which demands the incessant pursuit of perfection. “We are a young team that has enjoyed the taste of success over the last couple of years and we are very focused to stay where we have managed to get to,” said Horner.
There is no trace of complacency or interest in distractions, allied to the philosophy that nothing less than No.1 is sufficient.
It is a compelling combination and the chances are that Red Bull’s adversaries will be suffering from Vettel fatigue before this whole campaign is over.
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