Watson imagines a Vettel-Alonso duel for 2012

John Watson, former Formula 1 driver, reflected on the 2011 season, which he found interesting even though it was dominated by Sebastian Vettel.

The former McLaren driver believes that the technical changes implemented by the FIA to enhance the spectacle have been successful. The DRS, KERS, and the arrival of Pirelli have contributed to improving overtaking and the show, even though, according to him, it’s not really the essence of motorsport.

I think it has been a great season. Obviously, it was dominated by a single team and driver, but we’ve had the arrival of many technologies – there was the DRS, the return of KERS, and the Pirelli tires, explains John Watson to Sky Sports.

« All of this allowed for overtaking, not necessarily what I would call racing, but it provided a lot of entertainment and for the spectators, they saw the cars doing something they hadn’t seen in a long time, overtaking. »

The former British driver also commented on the “case” of Vettel. He said he was impressed by the German youngster’s driving skills as well as his communication abilities.

At Sebastian’s age, having already won two world championships, I hadn’t even driven a Formula 1 car yet. The man, you could almost call him a boy, he’s incredible, his abilities once in the cockpit.

What might be even more incredible for me are his qualities outside the cockpit, the way he manages to speak in a foreign language, especially English, his communication skills are equal to his piloting abilities, he is a remarkable young man.

Watson thinks that with a Red Bull as strong as in 2011, Vettel will be able to fight for a third consecutive world championship title, which would make him the youngest triple world champion ahead of Ayrton Senna.

«And in reality, he has the potential to win another world championship in 2012, a third in a row, hoping that Red Bull will provide him with good equipment and I think it will be a difficult team to dislodge from its winner’s perch, so Sebastian, who is already someone incredible, will probably be even better in ten years.»

John Watson also commented on Red Bull’s main rivals, starting with McLaren, whose technical capabilities he praises. According to him, it is the team with the best technical team and the one that knows best how to turn around an unfavorable situation.

The fact is that McLaren has enormous experience, large infrastructures, and the ability to change a single-seater very quickly, which they did with the 2009, 2010 cars, and even the 2011 single-seater.

It’s something you can’t just pick off a shelf and buy; it’s something that is acquired after many years.

They can continue a racing program, with a development program at the same time, and they can also prepare for the following year. That is the strength McLaren possesses.

Watson thinks that with the arrival of new engineers within the Scuderia Ferrari, especially Pat Fry, it could be of great help for the Italian team to reach the heights of F1 again and to erase the disappointments of recent years.

This will come from the people they employ. They now have a former McLaren technical director with Pat Fry, who joined the team in 2011 and Pat will undoubtedly try to strengthen Ferrari’s aerodynamics and engineering force by recruiting as he has apparently done over the past six months.

So Ferrari is strengthening its aerodynamic and mechanical team, and it’s primarily about having the right people at the right time in the team.

The winner of 5 F1 Grand Prix believes that Fernando Alonso is the driver who elevates Ferrari. Watson thinks that if Ferrari offers him a competitive car, he will be able to fight against Vettel to secure a third title in 2012.

They have two good drivers, but an exceptional one with Alonso, who is the engine of the Ferrari team, I must say. Alonso is a driver capable of winning another world championship if not more, and given the opportunity, the car, I must say he is the greatest threat to Sebastian Vettel, but it will mainly depend on whether Ferrari can provide Alonso and the Italian nation with a car capable of competing with Red Bull and McLaren, added Watson.