Jenson Button was only half-joking. Asked for his appraisal of Formula One’s youngest double world champion to date, the response came back almost instantly: “------ Germans.”
It was a neat quip, but it came laced with apprehension. Button had just won a thrilling and hugely emotional victory in Japan — a country still reeling from the after-effects of March’s tsunami and which Button regards as his second home — but it was the person sitting to his left who was grinning widest: Die Weltmeister, Sebastian Vettel.
At the tender age of 24 years and 99 days, that “------ German” can look forward to spending at least another decade at the top. If he carries on like this no one else is going to get a look-in. Even the 91 victories and seven world titles of his hero and compatriot Michael Schumacher, previously thought untouchable, may be in jeopardy.
It was Schumacher’s achievement in winning the 2002 gong with six races remaining that Vettel was commenting on when Button interjected with his Basil Fawlty-esque aside. “What exactly do you mean?” grinned Vettel, arching an eyebrow in mock protest. He has always enjoyed British humour.
At least Vettel only managed to wrap up this title with four races remaining. Perhaps we should be thankful for that. The worry is, with the 'Brains of Milton Keynes’, technical director Adrian Newey, also signed up for the long term, the combination of man and machine may prove irresistible for a while yet.
Could we be seeing the start of a Schumacher-Ferrari type era of domination? Vettel is certainly ambitious enough, his easy-going demeanour masking a ruthless core.
Source: The Telegraph...
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