Vettel renewed his contract! – Now what?

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull have unquestionably been the best amalgamation in the whole of F1 in the last three years. The world champion team with their star driver has managed to win 3 Drivers and Constructors championships in a row. And it doesn’t end there! 7 races of the 2013 season are over, and Sebastian Vettel just extended the lead in the Driver’s championship last week by brilliantly dominating the Canadian Grand Prix. I’m sure all of us, with the slightest bit of irritation, asked ourselves a question “When will the Red Bull – Vettel domination end?”. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait that long, for the world champion himself gave the answer by renewing his existing contract until the end of 2015. He said “2015 is a long way away, and 2016 even further. Who knows what’s going to be happening in three years, let alone five? Maybe I won’t even be driving anymore, because the desire is gone. Maybe I will end up with another team, to find a new challenge. Almost anything is possible. But luckily I don’t need to decide now,” said Vettel on extending his contract to the end of 2015.

Well, this doesn’t sound like good chimes for his competitors, does it? Having won the championship 3 times in a row already, he might as well may go onto winning 6 by the end of 2015 with his Newey designed cars! So, what are the takeaways of this contract extension?

Red Bull has evolved from a party team to a highly professional non-nouveau riche (as they were called before) racing team. Success has come their way the last 4 years, thanks to Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. But can you imagine a Red Bull racing team sans Sebastian Vettel? Not at all.. in the best interests of the sport. Vettel’s contract extension is a huge plus for the Red Bull team as a whole. Now not only do they keep the world champion home, but provided Adrian’s cars play the ‘good genie’, there’s no doubt that Vettel will be the one fighting for the championship in the future.

Now let’s shift our focus to the second Red Bull car, of the infamous #2 driver at Red Bull – Mark Webber. After the tiff he had with his teammate in Malaysia, nothing has gone his way in the last 5 races. There were endless rumors flooding the paddock during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend that Webber was to move to Le Mans, but ultimately it was denied by him, saying that he sees ”a future” in F1. Did Mark Webber (re)consider his F1 future on the basis of his teammate probably leaving Red Bull racing? If he did so, then it’s time some light is thrown on this topic.

If at all Mark Webber wanted to stay, he would want a different teammate (need I even mention Turkey 2010, Silverstone 2011 and Malaysia 2013?). But we’re going all one sided about this. What about Red Bull, do they need him? Helmut Marko has made it very clear to the viewers that Webber is most likely to leave the world champion team by the end of this season. Being the adviser of the team, you would want to listen to him. ‘The rumor’ has escalated to such an extent that we started finding Mark Webber’s replacement for next year. Possibilities are posing high for Kimi Raikkonen, a good friend of Vettel and a worthy opponent. The tales of the eccentric Iceman are legendary. Talk less and do much is his motto. And it’s time we saw some serious racing between 2 world champion friends in a top, winning team. On the other hand, we have the two Red Bull juniors (Toro Rosso drivers), Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric-Vergne – both immensely talented but lacking the experience. If one of them is to get into the ‘senior’ Red Bull team, then we will see a clear number 1 and 2 driver at Red Bull once again.

Infinti is one of the biggest sponsors of Sebastian, and the new contract will put a huge smile on their faces. Vettel, being the ‘Director of Performance’ of Infiniti since March, has had the opportunity to have a range of his own cars, developing other road cars and of course, testing new and upcoming tracks. And renewing his contract with Red Bull racing, or should I say ‘Infiniti Red Bull racing’, would be huge for Vettel and Infiniti.

Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey in Red Bull are the X-Men of Formula One. We have seen how the partnership has been – dominating each year, fighting with the best drivers for the championship. By the looks of it, 2013 (and the future) will again see this German contending for the title. This might be bad news for Alonso, who has fought with him twice in 3 years and lost. And of course, the other world champions. But that’s what Formula One needs, great battles and some passionate drivers. Yes, seeing the same driver win over and over again did and will affect ticket sales and viewership, but that’s what one has to take being on top of the world! Remember Michael Schumacher from 2000-2004?

These are the takeaways from Vettel’s new contract. But it’s time Sebastian Vettel made a brave move to prove his worth in some other team than Red Bull. We know he’s unbeatable in Adrian-designed cars, and no doubt he has immense talent. But what we really want is to see him take a different route like Hamilton did. Join a new team. Hoping for the ‘move’ after 2015!