Sebastian Vettel’s virtuoso display at Silverstone was just what the Formula One World Championship needed.
At last it looks as if Jenson Button may have a realistic challenger for the drivers’ title after Vettel put in arguably one of the most impressive drives of the season.
Yes, he had the fastest car, but he made full use of it. He won the British Grand Prix in the opening stint with a devastating display as he pulled away from second placed Rubens Barrichello by a second a lap.
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What was most impressive was that Vettel was doing this with a car that was five laps heavier in fuel than Barrichello, which just illustrated the advantage that the German had.
He is now 25 points behind Button in the standings and with nine races to go will fancy his chances of carving big chunks into that lead if his team can maintain this kind of form.
It won’t be that easy though for a number of reasons.
Firstly, this was always going to be a track that was going to suit Red Bull perfectly thanks to the high speed sweeps and corners that make up the Northamptonshire circuit.
Secondly, the low temperatures weakened the Brawn challenge massively to the extent that, at one stage, Button was less than 10 seconds ahead of the admirably quick Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella – not what you would have expected from a driver who had won six of the first seven races.
I expect most of the upcoming races to give Button the heat that he needs. Belgium may favour Vettel as potentially could the night race in Singapore, while Japan and Brazil are difficult to predict.
It will be only in the coming races that we will see a true picture of whether Vettel and Red Bull do have a speed advantage thanks to their aerodynamic and diffuser updates.
But even if they do now have the edge on Brawn, it will still be difficult for Vettel to catch Button.
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