Both Vettel and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner dismissed the
speculation out of hand, Horner saying that Red Bull would have to be
“fairly stupid” to introduce banned traction control on to a car which is
“governed on a single Electronic Control Unit that is through a tender of
the FIA and that is scrupulously checked by the FIA”.
Vettel, meanwhile, joked that he might struggle to win here in Korea but
traction control would not make such a difference. “But I think we should
still have a strong package,” he said.
That is not in any doubt although Alonso, 60 points behind Vettel heading into
this weekend’s grand prix, has still not given up hope of overhauling the
German.
“The president and me think anything can happen,” Alonso said. “Like the
America’s Cup, we saw the American team was 1-8 down and they won 9-8. We
know it would be difficult, but if you have two lucky races, things can
change very quickly.”
Meanwhile, Sauber confirmed on Thursday that they were looking at bringing
Rubens Barrichello, Formula One’s most experienced driver, back to the sport
next season. The 41-year-old last raced for Williams in 2011. He has since
competed in IndyCar and Brazilian stock cars.