tommallett

It will come as a surprise to no-one that I think Sebastian Vettel will joinan elite group of drivers by winning his third straight Formula 1 world championship this year.

While the likeable German may not be able to exert the level of control over his team that Michael Schumacher was able to exert at his peak he is revered nonetheless. He makes a point about staying behind even after he has done the jobs expected of him as a driver.

He seems to appreciate the fact that his mechanics and engineers are as important as he is to the performance of the team. The "we're in it together" attitude endears him to his colleagues at Red Bull meaning they want to work for him as hard as he works for them.

He may earn millions and be the face that the paying public know but he has eschewed the celebrity lifestyle favoured by some of his colleagues. This has paid dividends as he is able to concentrate fully on his job while others have faltered.

I am equally convinced that Seb's work with the Torro Rosso team, including his memorable win, taught him a huge amount. He learnt how to deal with traffic at close quarters, fought with his peers, tooth and nail for the lesser points paying positions and finally earned a position at the big team, Red Bull.

In England we have been at loggerheads with German sport for many years. Although we don't like to admit it, the Germans had a perfectly good goal disallowed in the 1966 Football World Cup final. We then cultivated a dislike for Michael Schumacher through the nineties after he punted off Damon Hill to take the 1994 World Championship and we were ready to tar Vettel with the same brush, then he appeared on Top Gear, 'damn' they said, "he's a nice bloke too".

In his early days at Red Bull, including his 2010 world title Sebastian made a few mistakes, but this didn't happen last year and I don't think it's going to happen this year either.

All of this and I haven't mentioned his pure speed. Mark Webber has always been known for his qualifying pace. I challenge you to look up both Red Bull driver's qualifying results in 2011 and question the German driver's talent.

Good luck to everyone else. You're going to need it.

Images courtesy of Red Bull Racing