“We Were Quite Free Then”: Red Bull Stalwart Picks Sebastian Vettel’s Dominance Over Max Verstappen’s Reign
Credits: Imago

Red Bull Racing engineer Paul Monaghan recently appeared on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast. During the interview with host Tom Clarkson, Monaghan shared his reasons for why he believes that Sebastian Vettel’s dominance during 2010-2013 was “more intense” than Max Verstappen’s recent domination during the ground-effect era.

Monaghan said, “We were quite free then [during Vettel’s era of domination]. Weren’t we? 2009 to 10 was the double diffuser era ban then right?“

The 56-year-old is referring to the double diffuser ban that the FIA came up with after Brawn GP won their maiden and only championship in 2009 in controversial circumstances. Brawn GP came up with an ingenious innovation to ensure that their cars did not lose the downforce that the FIA had hoped would reduce with the regulations they introduced in 2009.

Since Brawn GP and other teams had the liberty to carry out such experiments back then with their cars, Monaghan believes that those years were “more intense“. During the same interview, Monaghan then also explained why he found each of the years that Vettel won the championship memorable.

Monaghan explains why Vettel’s era of domination was more enjoyable

Monaghan has been at Red Bull since the team’s inception in 2005 and has witnessed all the highs and lows of the side. One such era of domination he watched closely was that of Vettel’s between 2010 and 2013.

Monaghan found the 2010 season very interesting as Vettel had a close battle with Alonso for the championship. The German (256) beat the Spaniard (252) by just four points that year.

Although 2011 was relatively straightforward for Vettel as he won the title by 122 points, Monaghan yet believes that this season was not easy for Red Bull as they had to work incredibly hard after a close battle for the championship in the previous year. A year later, Vettel would have another incredibly close battle with Alonso for the title.

Vettel (281) would beat the two-time champion (278) by just three points to win his third consecutive championship in 2012. However, en route to his third title, Vettel had a dramatic season finale in Brazil that Monaghan reflected upon during his interview with Clarkson.

The British engineer said, “Last race was in Brazil, wasn’t it? [Vettel was] Rolling down the track backwards between turns three and four with half the car missing. Think my goodness me, what are we doing? Come on, why are we in this mess?