Sebastian Vettel has every confidence that he and his Red Bull-Renault team will be on the ball in Belgium this weekend. Vettel has had the opportunity to restore his spirits during the recent summer holiday after missing out on another victory from pole position in Hungary just over three weeks ago. The 23-year-old has now failed to convert pole into a race win six out of seven times this season, which has without doubt cost him the lead in the championship.
Remarkably, of the five contenders in line for this year's crown, Vettel is the only driver yet to lead the way in the title race, despite the fact that he has led seven of the 12 races this year at various stages. However, he remains only 10 points adrift of Mark Webber, his Red Bull teammate, going into the final seven grands prix of the season, starting out at Spa on Sunday. Although the track is not expected to favour the Red Bull as others have done recently, Vettel firmly believes he will again be in contention for honours.
"I love Spa," Vettel said. "It has some of the best corner sections in Formula One. They're long, fast-flowing and suit our car. "Our weakness will be the long straights and, with uphill sections too, we know it won't be easy for us, but I am optimistic for the race." Despite the recent break, Vettel refused to let his standards slip and, instead of spending time chilling out on a beach, he opted to stay in shape in preparation for the tense battle ahead.
"The long break allows you to do more scheduled training, as when there are races every other week it's difficult to improve your level of fitness," Vettel added. "I tried to switch off for the first part of the holiday, and then did some more intensive training in the second half in order to be well prepared for the reminder of the season." Lewis Hamilton, Vettel's championship rival, is equally optimistic of a competitive showing in Belgium.
The McLaren-Mercedes driver, who is second in the title standings is also confident that the team have got to the bottom of the reliability problems that forced him to retire from the last race in Hungary. "We've investigated the causes of the gearbox issue, and think we've identified the reason and are confident it shouldn't happen again," the 2008 world champion said. "Personally, I think Spa is one of the great Formula One tracks, and one where I'd really love to win. I'll be going flat-out to try and get us back into the hunt again in Belgium, and it would be fantastic if we could take home another win."
Hamilton's best result in Spa is third in 2008, although he actually was first across the finish line in that race but was given a time penalty for cutting a chicane. * Press Association