Vettel tips even tighter finish to F1 season

Melbourne: Sebastian Vettel is predicting an even closer battle for the Formula One world drivers’ championship when the new season gets under way in Australia on Sunday.

The German ace piloted his Red Bull to a third consecutive world title in the final race of last season in Brazil, pipping Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by just three points.

It was the second time in the past three seasons that the Spaniard had been denied by the young German for the world championship in the last race.

Vettel, 25, is bidding to become the youngest driver to win four world titles in a row, a feat only achieved by Formula One legends Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

Vettel is again the hunted favourite after three years in the fastest car produced by Red Bull.

“The secret is not to think about what happened in the last three years. I think the first title was very special,” he said on Thursday.

“After that you don’t have that pressure any more. You’ve proved to yourself more than anyone else that you can do so.

“After that I had two fantastic years again, very different to each other but we don’t think about what happened last year or the last three years.”

Vettel said that past glories meant little as the drivers embark on the new 19-race season.

“We are here, we have zero points at the moment, the same as everyone else. Everyone has the same opportunities, the cars haven’t really changed,” he said.

“Last year we saw it was very close, so I don’t expect it to be any different than last year, if anything even a bit tighter, so it will crucial to make the most out of every single race.”

The German has a deep respect for Alonso, who did wonders with his Ferrari last season to take the fight to the Red Bulls.

“I think Fernando is one of the most respected and most accepted drivers in the world,” he said.

“In most circumstances he has the ability to be on the limit. I think he is a very intelligent driver and that’s the reason why he is always fighting for the championship until the end for many years in his career.

“Fortunately, we had the upper hand for the last couple of years but surely he’s trying his best to give everyone a hard time again this year.”

Meanwhile, Alonso said on Thursday that two tough near-misses in the past three seasons would motivate Ferrari as the celebrated Italian team seek their first Formula One drivers world title in six years.

Alonso said he felt “privileged” to have come so close last year, when he missed out on his third world title by just three points, and in 2010, when he was only four points back in the standings.

In both instances Alonso, who won in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, was shaded by Red Bull ace Sebastian Vettel, who is now seeking his fourth championship in a row starting with Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

But the Spaniard said it would all be worthwhile if he could become Ferrari’s first drivers’ champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, a triumph which followed Michael Schumacher’s golden run from 2000-2004.

“Not many people have the opportunity to be on the podium in Formula One, even less people have the opportunity to win races and very few people have the chance to fight for the world championship,” Alonso said at Albert Park.

“So I feel lucky and privileged to have those opportunities.

“Sure, we lost two times in the last three years in the last race and we want again to have the possibilities to fight for the world championship. Hopefully this year we can change the final result.

“But it is the normal thing for the sport and this will give me and the team extra motivation to really have one happy result at the end of it.”

Alonso added that this week’s race in Melbourne was almost impossible to predict with all 10 drivers of the top five teams — Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Lotus — capable of victory.

“It’s difficult to know who can win this race. We need to wait and see and answer some questions. Winter testing didn’t answer them,” he said.

“I think the top five teams have a little bit of advantage, maybe it’s not the same as last year but we saw seven different winners in the first seven races.

“I expect this year with the consistency in the rules that the top five teams will have a little advantage and not have many surprises in the first few races.”

Alonso added: “All the leading teams have shown some potential on different days in testing and races last year and I think it’s difficult to choose.”