Sebastian Vettel’s first regular teammate is predicting an era of dominance for the new back to back world champion.<\/p>\n
It is often forgotten that amid Sebastien Bourdais’ ill-fated switch to F1 from superiority in American open wheel racing three years ago, he was paired with the then rookie Vettel at Toro Rosso.<\/p>\n
“People groan about the days of Schumacher’s dominance,” the Frenchman told Germany’s Auto Bild, “but I say that the Vettel era could be worse.”<\/p>\n
32-year-old Bourdais, now an Indy and sports car driver, recalled of 2008: “In the first third of the season we were equally strong.<\/p>\n
“Then we got the new car and Toro Rosso did not have the capacity to develop it specifically for one driver.<\/p>\n
“But what Sebastian can do, even with an extremely fast car that is difficult to control, is simply drive around problems.<\/p>\n
“His car control is exceptional, and it really stands out if the car or the conditions are difficult.”<\/p>\n
Bourdais said Vettel, then 21, stood out in another area.<\/p>\n
“We both had problems with our crew, with the mechanics speaking little English.\u00a0 For me it was worse because I had a family at home and couldn’t spend my little bit of spare time learning Italian.<\/p>\n
“Sebastian invested more time and energy and therefore could communicate better with the team,” added Bourdais.<\/p>\n
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