Like his team-mate Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel has also counted himself out of the calorie-counting regimen of many of their Formula One rivals ahead of the 2009 season.

The German newspaper Bild on Monday revealed that 21-year-old Vettel's 174 centimetre frame currently weighs in at 64 kilograms, still 11 less than team-mate Mark Webber. When asked about the weight-loss trend ahead of the 2009 season, he said: "I weigh 67 kilos with all my race gear on, and in the winter enjoyed many full dinner courses."

And to the Rheinische Post publication, Vettel admitted: "(Since the end of 2008) I have put on four kilos."
Source: F1Live

Sebastian Vettel has scotched suggestions that Albert Park may be silent in late March due to the dispute over driver Superlicenses.

At the launch of Red Bull's new RB5 car at Jerez on Monday, 21-year-old Vettel revealed that he is a GPDA member and fully backs the disgruntled statement released by the body a few days ago. But he played down fears that the dispute could affect next month's season opening grand prix, despite Mosley warning that no driver will be permitted to exit the Melbourne pitlane if they do not possess a new Superlicense featuring his signature.

"No, I do not see that, because we do want to drive," Vettel is quoted as saying by the Rheinische Post publication on Monday. The German driver, who won the Italian grand prix last year, confirmed that his license will cost "a little more" than 80,000 euros for 2009.

He said: "Everyone should be careful how they treat this issue, because no-one wants the headlines to say that the drivers are going to strike. That has never been said, only that we are not happy with the situation. We are open to cooperate with the FIA. What happens in the future, we will have to wait and see."
Source: F1Complete

Sebastian Vettel will sport a modified helmet livery for the 2009 season.

The 21-year-old German, who has switched to Red Bull from the energy drink company's junior team Toro Rosso, revealed the tweaked colours at the launch of the new RB5 before debuting the car at Jerez on Monday.

2008 Monza winner Vettel's new helmet retains its basic design in the Red Bull-tin colours of chrome and blue, but now features personalised flashes of yellows, purples and pinks.

He told reporters on Monday that his target for this year is to deliver Red Bull Technology's second win.
Source: F1live.com

Gearbox problems brought a premature end to the maiden test of Red Bull's RB5 today in Jerez, with German Sebastian Vettel completing just 14 laps over the course of the day. Following the photocall at the start of the day, as the team unveiled its car, Vettel was given the honour of driving the RB5 on its first laps, but concerns over gearbox oil temperature forced the team to bring proceedings to an end.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault: “The guys did a fantastic job to get the car here and ready for this first run. I was happy to be driving again, but don't ask me to comment on the feel of the car as it's far too early for that. With the shakedown out of the way, we can get down to developing the car starting tomorrow and over the next few days. Stopping early today was the right decision, as you really need to understand exactly what causes any problem on a brand new car.”

Having had exclusive use of the Jerez circuit today, Red Bull will be joined by McLaren, Renault, Toro Rosso and Williams, who are all due to stay on-track until Friday. Tomorrow will see Sebastian Vettel, Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet, Nico Hülkenberg and Sébastien Buemi in action, as the second group test of 2009 gets underway in earnest. Meanwhile over in Bahrain, Ferrari, BMW Sauber and Toyota will kick off their own four-day test.
Source: ManipeF1

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With the launch of the new car, the team has been giving some interviews and we are bringing you quotes from Christian Horner and Sebastian's new teammate, Mark Webber:

Christian Horner: "In Sebastian (Vettel), we've got one of the sport's most exciting young talents and he will be looking to build on his very impressive rookie season. Over the winter, he adapted very quickly to working with his new team."

Mark Webber: “Going into every year there’s pressure – that’s what Formula 1 is about. You work so hard to get to Formula 1 because you know you’re going to be tested and this is the pinnacle. People will say Sebastian won a race last year and I haven’t, but when I first came here [to RBR] it was David’s third season with the team and he’d won 13 grands prix and it was a case of seeing how Mark would go against that. So there are always new challenges.”
Source: GPUpdate