F1 News
Date: 3/10/2013
Sebastian Vettel’s victory in the Singapore F1 Grand Prix
was far too dominant for some.
The reigning triple World Champion was in a class of his own
throughout the race, with former team owner Giancarlo Minardi claiming that the
Red Bull star was able to accelerate sooner than any other driver, while
emitting exhaust sounds similar to traction control.
Minardi stated: “There are some aspects - 1; Vettel’s very
neat way of driving; 2; Vettel’s [acceleration] 50m before the other drivers;
3; the abnormal sound of the RB1’s Renault engine; 4; Vettel’s more than 2 sec
[per lap] advantage over the rivals - that make me think and I would like to
have some answers…”
Lewis Hamilton appeared to back up Minardi’s view that
something unusual was happening, when asked about the performance difference
between himself and Vettel after the safety car period.
“On the restart everyone’s pushing flat out so there should
be no reason why they should be able to pull away that much quicker,” said the
Mercedes star, who finished fifth and almost one-minute behind Vettel.
“If you look at their on-board [cameras] he’s on the power,
full throttle at least 20 metres before everyone else, which is a huge
advantage.”
Hamilton added: “There’s nothing we can really do, we’re
always asking for rear downforce, always want to be able to get on the power
sooner. But the last time I was able to put the pedal down that quick was what,
2007, 2008 when we had traction control, so it’s a lot different.”
Rather than a traditional traction control system, which
would be illegal and easily spotted within the spec ECU, Vettel has hinted that
Red Bull has developed some form of clever engine mapping to help maximise
acceleration.
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