World champion Sebastian Vettel aims to carry his flying start into the 2011 Formula One season into Malaysian Grand Prix and the Red Bull driver may even have the Kers power-boosting system on board.
Vettel cruised to victory from pole without Kers at the season-opener in Australia in an impressive demonstration of strength.
The German won last year’s race in Sepang from team-mate Mark Webber in the first of four Red Bull one-two finishes in 2010.
While the 5.543-kilometres course in Sepang should suit the Red Bulls more than their rivals, Vettel remains cautious, not only saying it’s too early to see a trend but also pointing at the unpredictable weather.
“It’s hot and rains every day, but the question is when and how much? It will be a tricky one,” Vettel said.
Thunderstorms are forecast for the weekend, and the 2009 race had to be stopped after 31 of 56 laps because torrential rain had flooded the track.
Weather aside, Red Bull appears well prepared to dominate and Webber said that Friday testing will determine whether Kers will be used in qualifying on Saturday and the race Sunday.
“Its a no-brainer. You need Kers. If it’s working reliably and well, you should have it on the car,” the Australian said.
Red Bull opted not to use Kers in Australia but the two long Sepang straights are just made for the system which helps overtaking, just as the moveable rear wings.
Vettel had no problems beating Kers-powered rivals on the Melbourne street circuit, while Webber had to settle for fifth in his home race and now has nothing but a podium finish on his mind.
“We expect our car to be good in Malaysia — I want to get some champagne and up on to the steps,” he said.
Another uncertainty could be tyre degradation. While the new Pirellis worked well in Australia, the tyre-makers themselves expect a three or even four-stop strategy in the tropical Malaysian heat.
Lewis Hamilton was an encouraging second for McLaren in Australia ahead of surprisingly strong Russia Vitaly Petrov of Renault.
Hamilton has few illusions and expects Red Bull to dominate even more in Malaysia, but team principal Martin Whitmarsh hopes to close the gap of eight tenth in Australian qualifying and more than 20 seconds in the race. “There was a gap to pole position, and we finished second and not first. Our target is to close that gap and get Lewis and Jenson (Button) into a position where they can win,” said Whitmarsh.
Ferrari will have the same in mind for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who could live with fourth place but was unhappy with the big gap as well.
Mercedes, meanwhile, start from scratch after record world champion Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg went out in Australia after being victims of collisions. Schumacher tops the Sepang record books with three wins and five poles, all ahead of his first retirement in 2006.
“There is absolutely no doubt we want to do better than in the opening race. We clearly see that as a challenge, and for sure it is much too early to write us off,” said Schumacher.
“Everybody in the team remains positive about it and is in fighting mood. So I expect a better weekend for us to come, a weekend we can build up on.”
