Can anybody stop the mighty Red Bulls as the Formula One bandwagon rolls into China? After Malaysia two weeks ago, and China last season, Red Bull are the clear favourites to repeat their recent success.

Two weeks ago, Red Bull were imperious on the track at the Sepang circuit. One year ago, Red Bull were imperious on the track in Shanghai. Can anyone stop the team on a track that they love and a track that Sebastian Vettel is a master of?

Even in the German’s early Formula One days with Toro Rosso, Vettel excelled himself in the wet Chinese Grand Prix of 2007. He started 17th on the grid but managed to fight his way up the field to eventually finish in 4th place. In 2008, Vettel started in an impressive 6th position for Toro Rosso but finished in a comparatively disappointing 9th. 2009 saw complete and utter domination from Vettel as he headed a Red Bull 1-2. All this looks very ominous indeed for the 23 other drivers.

By comparison, Mark Webber has not had the best of times in Shanghai. Webber has finished 10th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 14th and 2nd in the six races held at the circuit. One positive thing for Webber is that the bad luck usually associated with the Australian has not had such an affect in China. At least he’s finished each race! Had it not been for Vettel being in superb form last year, Webber would have in fact won the race, and by a clear margin.

Both drivers seem confident of more success in China. Vettel said that despite the apparent speed of the Red Bull’s, they are still behind in the Championship so work still needs to be done.

“We know we have a very good car but the other teams are always improving. If you look at the world championship ranking, there is no gap, we are behind the others and we have to catch up. I hope that if we keep going as we have done in the last race, we can catch the others.

“It will be tough to beat Mark again and then you’ve got all the others again – Ferraris, McLarens and Mercedes as well. In theory, you can win the title without winning races.

“Finishing second or third is a good result, it’s not as good as winning, of course, but you still get quite a lot of points and in the end, the one that did the best job overall becomes world champion.”

The two Red Bull cars finished a full 45 seconds ahead of the rest of the field in 2009 and after the domination we saw two weeks ago, it once again looks like it’s going to be a fight for 3rd place. But which of the two Austrian cars will come out on top?

Prediction – Vettel 1st, Webber 2nd

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