"Yeah, I don't mind," the sport's youngest ever
champion at 23 years old told reporters after pulling the wraps off his new RB7
car in the Valencia pitlane and being asked how he liked the numeral.
If his excitement was less than palpable it was only because
his main concern on the first day of testing was for the car to be quick and
reliable and that will only really be evident when the season starts in Bahrain
next month.
Vettel was ecstatic when he won the title in Abu Dhabi last
November but he has moved on from there already.
The youngster who was dubbed a "crash kid" by
McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh after he collided with then-champion Jenson
Button, now has to fill the role of a champion himself.
Make no mistake, he wants to reign for more than just a
matter of months.
"I found out that the trophy I got in Monaco last
year...I thought everyone got their own," he said before the launch.
"But it's not that way. You have to give it back. So
for this year, I need to push really hard to keep it in my house." The
first step in that direction, with Vettel posing in front of the massed ranks
of photographers in overalls and a woolly hat to ward off the chill of an early
morning in February, was taken on Tuesday.
"We start here, four tests to go and then 20 races.
Everyone starts with zero points," said the man who won five races and
claimed 10 pole positions last year. "It will be a tough battle and a
long, hard fight." "I think winning the championship, no matter when
and for who, never comes easy," he added. "Even if you start off with
one of the quickest cars you might be facing the second half of the season with
a car that's not quick enough or the other way round." Vettel also
shrugged off the inevitable talk of a move to Ferrari or Mercedes, the team of
seven-times champion and compatriot Michael Schumacher, further down the line.
Schumacher, who gets on well with the younger champion,
himself fueled speculation this week when he said Mercedes would be crazy not
to consider him as a future signing.
"I think it is smart to not put too much weight on
those things," said Vettel.
"In the off-season there are no wheels turning,
unfortunately, and obviously there are still pages to be filled with ink and
something to be written or something to be said. "So it is easy to see
some things come up and you don't sometimes understand the whole idea, so that
is the so-called off-season and I think I said this many times that I am very
happy where I am.
"Not to get too personal, but if I was to ask you where
you see yourself in five or 10 years I think it is a difficult question to
answer for every one of us." Team principal Christian Horner was confident
Red Bull could retain their prize asset.
"While we can provide him with a competitive car and
while he feels comfortable here...then I don't see any reason why the
combination shouldn't continue for a few years to come," he said.
