Brundle: « The regulations were made to slow down the Red Bull »

After two Grand Prix races, the time has come for some to make an initial assessment of the strengths in play at the start of this 2012 season, and for Martin Brundle, the first surprise concerns the performance of Red Bull – or its lack of performance – compared to the past two seasons. However, the Brit believes that everything has been done to curb Red Bull and prevent it from continuing its reign in F1: When you look at how the regulations have evolved, it’s almost as if it was done to slow down the Red Bull. Doubling the stiffness of the front wing, the way they used to run with a very tilted car, the wing close to the ground, the exhausts, everything has been taken away from them ensures the Sky Sports commentator in an interview given to the Top Gear program’s website, broadcasted on the BBC.

But for the Briton, Red Bull is not the only surprise, even if the rest of the pack is rather in line with what we saw in pre-season testing: It’s very tight at the front, and the midfield pack is solid enough to pull off upsets, as we saw with Perez in Malaysia. The unpleasant surprise is Ferrari. That and the race pace of the Mercedes. The pleasant surprises are Sauber, Toro Rosso, Force India, Williams…

The man with 158 Formula One starts also addresses the persistent rumors sending Sergio Perez to Ferrari, replacing Felipe Massa, in the not-too-distant future: « I think we can say that Massa will no longer be [at Ferrari] in 2013. Perez has a good chance, but there are many good guys. It’s time for the younger generation. We have lost Rubens [Barrichello], I don’t know where Michael Schumacher is at, but there are a hundred kids fully prepared – mentally, physically, nutritionally, and technically – to take the wheel of an F1 car. Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo, and Romain Grosjean, these guys can rise directly to the top. »

Apart from Sergio Perez’s race, the Malaysian Grand Prix was marked by the controversy surrounding the collision between Sebastian Vettel and Narain Karthikeyan, particularly the behavior of the German double world champion who lashed out at the Indian in the media: « He’s just an angry man who doesn’t have the car to fight at the front at the moment. […] Vettel didn’t leave enough space. We saw this in India last year when Karthikeyan only mildly yielded: either you stay on the racing line and continue until the faster cars pass you or you completely step aside. Karthikeyan needs to be more decisive in what he does. I can understand why the other drivers are frustrated with him, but Vettel was a bit clumsy. »

If Brundle acknowledges that there have always been slower cars than others in Formula One, he admits his perplexity at HRT’s struggles to progress: « Someone has to be in front and another behind [but] HRT is particularly slow at the moment, and I don’t understand why they are worse in their third year than in their first. The others are fine, and they have professional drivers […] but I think Vettel went a bit too far in calling Karthikeyan an idiot. He was just frustrated. »

While in less than two weeks the grand circus of F1 will set up its headquarters in Shanghai, Martin Brundle ventures – timidly – into the game of predictions: [In China,] there is a long back straight that should suit Mercedes very well. Weather conditions there are sometimes changeable, so I think once again it will be entirely unpredictable, but the team that seems to have the best package, weekend after weekend, is McLaren. […] We cannot underestimate Lotus. Räikkönen could – and should – have been on pole position in Sepang, and from speaking to the guys at Lotus, they say they simply put the car on the track and make very few changes. It’s one of those cars that can […] perform well in all conditions and on all circuits.

But the Briton still thinks that his compatriot, Lewis Hamilton, remains the best placed today to vie for the world crown at the end of the season, even if he takes nothing for granted: “I see Hamilton winning the title this year, but I’m not a gambler. I’ve been around this environment for too long to waste my money betting on race drivers. […] Who would have thought that Fernando Alonso would lead the championship after two races? We thought they would be fighting in the pack… which would probably be the case without Alonso. I feel that McLaren has the best package and that Lewis is determined to return to the path of victory.”