Due to the massive rule changes coming into force at silverstone, i personally feel like we're about to start watching a new season. Nobody knows who will have the best car, if any of the midfield runners can get closer to the front etc. So now that the 2011 season part 1 has ended fittingly, with Red Bull Dominating todays race, who do you feel will be best placed for the start of the 2011 season part 2? My money's on Alonso.
It will be Vettel and the RB7. There is no possibility whatsoever that the advantage that car has is based on a single aspect. Every inch of the car is designed to make it go faster. It's Adrian Newey's greatest work and it will continue to be the best car for the second half of the season. Other cars and drivers may well nick the odd win but the majority of the remaining races are Red Bull's and Vettel's.
Adrian Newey said today that the entire car is designed around the diffuser. I know he's in a different league when it comes to designing for rule changes, but i think theres going to be too much work for him to do in 2 weeks. Ferrari and McLaren just adopted the concept, so removing it will not make so much of a difference.
They don't have to change the diffuser, just the engine mapping. They're limited to just 10% off-throttle diffuser blowing, I doubt they'd have used much more than that this weekend because of the strain it places on the engine. If there was going to be any major change I feel it would've came this weekend.
Still Red Bull, they'd be completely ******ed if they weren't thinking about a plan B as soon as a whisper of this rule change came along.
According to Andrew Benson's blog (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/06/sebasitan_vettel_dashes_hopes.html ), Horner has claimed RBR aren't hot-blowing their diffuser and that the ban could actually help them.
Quote from Andrew Benson: Ok I know what he is trying to get at but it is still pretty stupid to say that the two drivers who are able to pose a consistent threat to Vettel are the drivers who are 4th and 5th in the championship after eight races and not the drivers who are 2nd and 3rd.
I tend to take what Horner says with a pinch of salt. All team bosses mix honesty and dishonesty, as its their job to keep everyone else guessing. But Horner loves the sound of his own voice more than any of his peers. It's quite possible that Ferrari or maybe McLaren can match Red Bull from Silverstone onwards. But Red Bull are in a stronger development position than Brawn were when their big advantage was neutralised in 2009, and I expect them to continue to win at least a third of races. Barring serious injury, there is no way that Vettel won't take the title from here.
Don't think Mclaren will be in a stronger posistion than Red Bull after Hamilton's and Button's comments after the race unless big upgrades for rear downforce are out on the car at Silverstone. I still see Red Bull dominating not just this season but for many years until Newey leaves. People can say the ban on the diffuser will hurt them but with a Genius like Newey I still think they are such a powerful force with him and Vettel leading them to big success.
