Sebastian Vettel expects McLaren and Ferrari to strike back at the current front-runners, and to possibly even challenge for the 2009 title, despite their poor start to the year.

The teams that have dominated recent years began 2009 on the back foot as others were able to write-off their poor 2008 campaigns to focus on developing new cars for this season's radical new rules.

That has left Ferrari at the foot of the constructors' table with no points to its name, and McLaren struggling to reach Q3, while the likes of Brawn and Red Bull do the winning.

But Shanghai victor Vettel does not think the erstwhile big guns will be down and out for long.

"If they all of a sudden bring an update and they are back at the front, it would be completely wrong to underestimate Ferrari, and also McLaren-Mercedes," he said.

"They are here to win the championship."
Source: ITV

Shanghai winner Sebastian Vettel is ‘so good and so cheap’, the German daily Bild newspaper claims.
It is reported that, despite collecting the plaudits in the wake of his Monza (2008) and China wins for Red Bull's F1 teams, the 21-year-old ranks in the bottom-six in terms of driver earnings.
Vettel makes 3.5m Euros per season, Bild claims, but the German insists the situation is not unfair.
"The moment money becomes your motivation, you are immediately not as good as someone who is stimulated by passion and internal will," he is quoted as saying.
Moreover, Vettel - with the aid of a single lawyer - negotiated his own contract, as he is not represented by a manager.

Dietrich Mateschitz is delighted with Red Bull's driver line-up, insisting it is among the very best on the Formula One grid.
The team owner's comments follow Mercedes boss Norbert Haug's confession this week that he would like to see Shanghai winner Sebastian Vettel in a McLaren ‘some day’. Vettel is under contract until next year and Red Bull could have the first option on his services.
"Besides Ferrari, we have with Vettel and Webber absolutely the strongest driver pairing in the field," Mateschitz told the German newspaper Bild.
And as for rivals' interest in Vettel, the Austrian billionaire added: "At the moment Sebastian is not for sale."

Michael Schumacher gave an an interview with German Press Agency dpa ahead of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix and spoke about several things, including Ferrari's reability and obviously Sebastian Vettel.

'He definitely has a chance to fight for the title ... His talent is undisputed and the way he does it is astonishing. It is a joy to watch him conquer the Formula One world,' said Schumacher.
Source: MonsterandCritics

Mercedes-Benz is interested in seeing Sebastian Vettel at the wheel of a McLaren at some point in the future. That is the admission of Norbert Haug, boss of the German carmaker's racing activities, in the wake of countryman Vettel's second dominant race win at the wheel of a Red Bull-branded car.

Haug has previously admitted Mercedes' interest in the 21-year-old German, who is under contract to the energy drink company until the end of next year. "After that we will have to see, perhaps some day he will drive a silver arrows," he told the German newspaper Bild.

Vettel also has ties with BMW, with whom he debuted as a F1 test driver and first contested a grand prix, in the injured Robert Kubica's car at Indianapolis two years ago. Part of Vettel's ongoing BMW deal, Mario Theissen confirmed, is that he drives an M5 on the road.
Source: PaddockTalk

"Harmony" is not the word to describe the relationship of Red Bull's two drivers, according to team advisor Helmut Marko. "No. Rather, I would call it healthy competition," the Austrian, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz's right-hand man in racing matters, told sportnet.at.

Now, the gap is smaller, he agrees. "In the beginning Mark resisted using Vettel's setup. He would not accept it. Now he uses it because it is just faster," Marko said. Not only is Webber eleven years older than Red Bull's new arrival, Vettel has contested 97 fewer races but already won twice.

The 32-year-old Webber, who broke his leg and shoulder in the winter season, qualified behind Vettel in Shanghai and then finished second to him in the race. "I have been incredibly determined to get in the best condition I can and the best shape possible to overcome the injuries that I have had to give this youngster (Vettel) a hard time and so far it is working and we are pushing each other hard," he said.

Team owner Mateschitz told Austria's Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper: "Mark has proved that he is one of F1's best drivers. The combination of our pair is ideal. "What we wanted is two drivers who are on the limit and can push each other, and that is so," the Austrian billionaire said.
Source: PaddockTalk