Why F1 should still fear Vettel

Nobody becomes a world champion at anything by accident, let alone a four-time world champion of Formula 1.

But people have short memories, and it's only taken four relatively underwhelming (by his own high standards) races for the critics to start climbing all over Sebastian Vettel's back.

Those who write off Vettel as an average driver who romped into the record books by lucking into the best car ignore the qualities that allowed him to make the most of the machinery at his disposal.

A point of order here: I'm taking nothing away from Vettel's new Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who has done a superb job since stepping up from Toro Rosso and clearly has a better handle on how to drive this new generation of F1 car at the moment.

But the intra-team battle is closer than you might think at first glance, for Vettel was hampered by technical issues in Australia and Bahrain (not a fair fight), and was quicker than Ricciardo in Malaysia. So at best you could say it's a score draw between them at the moment.

Vettel had to be shuffled aside for Ricciardo in China © LAT

As Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says: "When Seb has worked out his issues, he'll be back with a bang."

And there's no reason to believe this won't happen. The qualities that made Vettel a multiple world champion are the same qualities that will drag him out of his current malaise.

All he needs is time.

Remember that exhaust-blown downforce became a key tenet of Red Bull's competitive advantage during the last rules cycle, and Vettel adapted his driving accordingly.

In fact, he became such a proponent of the particular style required that Red Bull began developing its car around his technique - with devastating results, as his run of nine consecutive victories at the end of last season attests.

The latest F1 rulebook has effectively outlawed exhaust blowing, by mandating that the exhausts exit through a single tailpipe opening, 170-185mm behind the rear-wheel centreline.

Not only has this robbed Red Bull of a big technical advantage, but it will also have rendered some details of Vettel's driving redundant.

The problem for anyone in this situation is that it's always easier to learn something than unlearn it, especially when so much of top-level professional driving is a subconscious art.

For Vettel, further down the road with this type of driving than his rivals, the process is bound to take a little longer.

Vettel's pre-season featured a lot of this and not a lot of running © XPB

Add in the fact that chronic unreliability from Red Bull and Renault ruined his pre-season - robbing Vettel of crucial track time to unravel his old techniques and refine new ones - and it seems apparent that we're witnessing a certain amount of dirty laundry being washed in public here.

The added problem for the reigning champion is one of compound interest. His difficulties in driving the RB10 correctly (mainly related to the lack of rear downforce and instability caused by energy harvesting under braking) mean he will struggle to hone the correct set-up on any given weekend, which has a knock-on effect on the tyres.

The result is a heavy defeat (to the tune of more than 20 seconds) to his team-mate at last month's Chinese Grand Prix, which involved some terse radio exchanges as the team tried to manoeuvre the slower Vettel out of Ricciardo's way.

This will all no doubt have been a fantastic confidence boost for Ricciardo, a superb driver with the perfect attitude to succeed in top-level motorsport, and whose early performances are worthy of the plaudits currently being lavished upon him.

But one swallow does not a summer make. A single-minded focus and restless workrate have underpinned the Vettel phenomenon since he burst onto the F1 scene, and that same drive and determination will also pull him out of this mini-slump.

'When', and not 'if', things start to click back into place for Vettel, he will become an absolute force to be reckoned with once more.

And it will be no accident when he does.

This week's AUTOSPORT magazine - available in shops and online - includes a focus on the Red Bull team-mate battle between Ricciardo and Vettel