This man, was, after Jensen Button, the man of 2009. Brilliantly fast, fantastic in the rain, he has won five races already in his career and could easily have been 2009 World Champion, and he’s only 22!

After the promise he showed in his season and a half at Toro Rosso, peaking with his incredible wet-weather win at Monza in 2008 where he led from start to finish, 2009 was a season of high promise; wins? Yes. Championships? Maybe.

While Button went on the rampage early in the season with his double diffuser at Brawn GP, Vettel had a difficult start to his season, which ultimately, cost him the title.

A crash in Australia with Kubica was the crash of a man who was in race winning mode, who didn’t expect to really fight for the championship. Perhaps a more experienced driver would have conceded the place and settled for third in the hope it may be important later.

Vettel then spun while in eighth place in Malaysia, but a fine win in a soaked Shanghai kick started his season, only for further mistakes in Monaco and Turkey seeing him lose precious ground to Button. By the time Silverstone came around, Button was 32 points ahead of the young German superstar.

But the second half of the season was all Red Bull’s, Vettel taking three utterly dominant wins at Silverstone, Suzuka and Abu Dhabi, while Webber did likewise at the Nurburgring and Interlagos.

Vettel had clawed the gap back from 32 points to 14, however Button had salvaged enough points to claim the drivers’ title.

By the end of the season however, the Red Bull was clearly the fastest car, designer Adrian Newey getting the best out of the new regulations.

For 2010, the bar has been set very high for Red Bull and Vettel, to challenge for both championships from the first race in Bahrain.

With the experience of 2009 and no double diffuser issues to worry about, Red Bull and Vettel are one of the top favourites for glory in 2010.

Vettel has the talent, now he has the experience, and that is one formidable combination.

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