Can Sebastien Vettel go one step further this season?

Sebastien Vettel stormed his way to second place in the World Championship in 2009 and he’ll want to go one step futher in 2010. The competition this season will be stronger for sure, McLaren and Ferrari won’t be off the pace and Mercedes will be in close company too so he’ll have to perform better than last year.

Red Bull seem quietly confident about their car, it has done well in winter testing but rarely did it grab the headline times – it did run faster more consistently than some though. It seems that they won’t miss out on any technical oversights like last year with the double diffuser – they would probably be world champions if they had used one from the first race in 2009.

To beat Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher to the title Vettel needs to start the season with the same raw pace that he ended last year coupled with a wiser and more mature head that will allow his to capitalise on all the points that he can get – not just the headline results.

Mark Webber will also be keen to beat him this year, Vettel must ensure that Webber doesn’t get the upper hand early in the season. With the new points system and the Australians determination it might only take a DNF or two to be in that position.

Ultimately it will depend on the car that Red Bull give Sebastien Vettel, if he has the machinery to do it then he might be able to string the results together to take the top spot but if the car’s not good enough his frustrations might show through.

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