Is clever engine mapping on his Red Bull the secret to Vettel’s success? As speculation swirls around the extent of Sebastian Vettel’s dominance in the past few races, the consensus emerging is that his Red Bull RB9 is making clever use of a ‘post-exhaust blowing’ solution. After the reigning World Champion extended his 2013 points lead with a dominant performance in Singapore, former Formula 1 team boss Giancarlo Minardi raised doubts about the legality of Vettel’s Red Bull. Minardi, watching trackside at Marina Bay, said that Vettel’s car displayed worryingly good handling, while his Renault engine “sounded similar to past seasons when traction control went into action”. Indeed, Autosprint has now uncovered a video (above) that depicts the odd mid-corner sound of Vettel’s car in Singapore. The cover of the latest edition of Autosprint reads ‘Il segreto di Vettel’ (Vettel’s secret), and reportedly reveals information about the German’s recent dominance. Autosprint, however, doubts that Red Bull is using some kind of traction control, but rather clever engine map that mimics the behaviour of exhaust-blown diffusers in the wake of the FIA’s clampdown in that area. British journalist James Allen, writing on his blog, agrees: “Rather than traction control, some kind of mapping to blow into the exhaust within the rules is more likely.” Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ competition boss, is quoted by Speed Week: “In this form, Sebastian could win all the remaining races of the season.” That could lead to more booing on the podium, an element that has plagued the triple World Champion since his three race winning streak began in Belgium. Pirelli boss Paul Hembery told the German newspaper Bild: “Sebastian will only be popular again [if] he loses. He will have to stand up in defeat, laugh and be humble. Nobody likes a bad loser.” “Maybe we can help him out by supplying him with only three tyres?” he joked
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 19:28:14 +0000
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