An exciting new era

"It can't be right that the finest drivers in the world go into a corner and lift their foot off the throttle but the electronics opens the throttle even more and controls engine power with spark and fuel."
Martin Brundle Quotes of the week

Red Bull Racing's Vettel won 11 of 19 races to claim the World Championship for a second season in a row, finishing 122 points clear.

But Brundle - part of Sky Sports F1 HD's new team - said technical changes, including the ban on off-throttle blown diffusers, will make it harder for the German to defend his title.

"We've had a very exciting year," Brundle told Sky Sports News HD. "We've seen 1,150 overtakes during the races and lots of pit-stops and wheel-to-wheel action but still Sebastian Vettel dominated the season.

"They are changing the cars a little bit - the cars will be more flighty, they will be moving around a bit and it should close the pack up.

"It can't be right that the finest drivers in the world go into a corner and lift their foot off the throttle but the electronics opens the throttle even more and controls engine power with spark and fuel.

"That's boring for the viewers. The car sounds awful and it gives them so much grip through the slow corners. It's just not right. The driver should be directly in control of the car. We want to see them working!

"They are certainly going to lose a second a lap; some of the teams will find that back again. The exhausts have got to come out of the top of the car now and we can't have any clever electronics working the engine through the middle of a corner instead of the driver."

Hungry

McLaren driver Jenson Button finished closest to Vettel last season and Brundle expects the Briton and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton to again pose the greatest threat to Red Bull's supremacy.

"It is going to be McLaren first and foremost; Ferrari you'd expect to, especially Fernando Alonso - he never gives up and is always in there creating something out of nothing.

"We expect Mercedes to up their game as well. They've not had a great season. They've got Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher and we will expect them to be nearer the pace too."

Seven-time World Champion Schumacher returned to Formula One in 2010 after a three-year break and finished in ninth spot with 72 points; this season he climbed one place in the standings.

In 2012, another former World Champion - Lotus Renault GP's Kimi Raikkonen - will join Schumacher on the grid and Brundle says he can't wait to see them go head-to-head.

"Michael Schumacher has found it quite hard but Raikkonen is quite a bit younger than Schumacher. Has he got the right car? We'll see. Six of the 24 drivers on the grid are World Champions, which is incredible. It's really exciting to see.

"Can Schumacher get it to work again in his forties? Raikkonen has been away rallying; it didn't work out. I think he is going to come back much more hungry than when he left. He was a bit fed up with all the media and the technical aspects - he just wanted to drive the racing car. I think he will come back a different person.

"How do they compare with the new hero, Vettel? Will Hamilton re-find his form? Button has been driving beautifully. Alonso, in his third season at Ferrari, is desperate to win the World Championship again. So that's quite a mix!

"You've got the finest drivers in the world, 24 cars, teams are spending hundreds of millions of pounds - there are 1,000 people in the top teams to get their two drivers on the grid.

"It's the pinnacle; it's the peak of motorsport with the best teams and the best equipment. Ferrari v Mercedes Benz v McLaren - and then you've got these upstarts: Red Bull, who have come and wiped the floor with the lot of them. It's just going to be wheel-to-wheel action."

Star

Briton Paul di Resta followed in the footsteps of Button and Hamilton by finishing his first season in F1 as Rookie of the Year and Brundle expects the Scot to build on his impressive start - providing Force India retain his services.

"I think he [Di Resta] made a great impact in 2011, scoring lots of championship points," said Brundle.

"He's not actually confirmed at Force India at the moment for next year but we are pretty sure that he will be there.

"When the official list came out last week there were still nine seats not officially confirmed; Di Resta is going to be around in Formula One for a long time - he's a great little star."

With the Marussia (formerly Virgin) team having confirmed Charles Pic for 2012, Brundle also spoke of the so-called 'pay drivers' on the grid.

"They get their chance - Sergio Perez, Pastor Maldonado, Vitaly Petrov - came through GP2 often with a lot of money and sponsorship behind them," he added.

"He (Pic) has taken the place of Jerome d'Ambrosio; he had some money to get in that car we call Marussia in 2012. He's got to do something special to show that he's not just a pay driver."