I read a very interesting article the other day on comments made by former Formula 1 team owner Giancarlo Minardi about the questionable nature of Sebastian Vettel’s 33 second victory over his rivals in Singapore; the Red Bull driver was consistently over 2 seconds faster than any other car on track, and some of those who watched the race from the circuit (including Minardi) have mentioned the slight difference in engine note from the back of the RB9. The words “Traction Control” are being whispered in hushed tones around the paddock and F1 world, but is there any truth in the rumours that Red Bull are running an illegal system on Vettel’s car?
In a column for Pitpass, Minardi talked about how precise Vettel’s driving was; “I was impressed by Vettel’s neat way of driving on that stretch of track. He was able to drive on all that stretch without making any corrections, unlike his rivals (also his team mate).”
So what? We know Vettel is a brilliant driver. But watching videos of him pulling away from corners in Singapore, even I have to admit his throttle control is almost beyond belief. Minardi also reckons that Sebastian was able to accelerate 50 metres before any other driver, including Webber. However, I find it hard to find any solid evidence in what Minardi is saying. He mentioned how the Renault Engine in Vettel’s car grinded like no other engine on track, but anyone who’s been to a Grand Prix knows it’s very hard to tell the difference between engines because of just how loud they are, so just how even the former F1 team boss can tell the very slight difference between an engine running a traction control system and a normal one is beyond me.
An argument that makes more sense is that the 2.5+ second advantage Vettel was opening up over his rivals each and every lap is just too big to be normal. I’m a Vettel fan, and so I personally attribute his extra speed to his abundance of talent (and a little bit to Newey’s engineering prowess), but many others don’t see it that way. This isn’t the first time that the Red Bull traction control rumours have surfaced; screenshots from videos showing Webber pulling away after an incident during the Canadian GP earlier this year showed intermittent rubber marks on the tarmac, suggesting the throttle had been blipped electronically (the rubber is too close together for a driver to have backed off the power), but I put that down to oscillations of the driveshaft under aggressive acceleration.
Trick engine maps can cut the power to the wheels to increase traction, and are very hard to police, but when they’re so far ahead in the championship I find it hard to believe that Red Bull would stoop to cheating. The reputations of the likes of Adrian Newey and Christian Horner would be in tatters were they ever caught, and after such illustrious careers, the idea that they would put their name to cheating doesn’t seem right. I don’t think Red Bull are using traction control; I just think they’ve got the best car and arguably the best driver. Lets hope I’m right on this one.
