Red Bull is committed long-term to Vettel – but not so to Webber – and the German, who looks poised to throw a mega strop when things don't go well, will not concede anything to his older team-mate. Last year's No2 Vettel is the golden boy and knows he's got a surplus of youth and speed over Webber, who scored his maiden win only at the age of 33 and whose palms must bead with sweat when the words "contract negotiations" are uttered. But it has to be the quietly spoken but uncompromising Newey, whose bold designs are the real force behind Red Bull's success. Or British toff Horner (he's the one in the smart-casual blazer). Hurry up, Seb – the DJ's about to hit the decks. Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz will have one of his autocrat's eyes trained on Brawn GP's 2010 incarnation, Mercedes, and the other on champion Jenson Button. Like the class swot who gets drunk to prove he can be cool, this team will turn up with a swimming pool for a hospitality suite and still romp away with a win.
The predicted early-season chaos as strategists adapt to the new regs is not going to help the team's chances of picking up where they left off. Racing sages love to say that a team are only as good as their last race and Red Bull scored a one-two at Abu Dhabi. The German, then still a teenager, was caught by the television cameras blubbering in the Toro Rosso pits. That'll be Aussie Mark Webber, who in 07 missed out on what could have been a debut victory when Sebastian Vettel punted them both out of the Japanese grand prix.
Team principal Christian Horner is playing up the fact that of the big four teams theirs is the only one to have retained both drivers. But if you view the glass of sickly energy drink as half empty, then they failed to win either title with arguably the best car on the track.
The leap from seventh in the 2008 standings to runners-up last year was a giant stride.
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