What Can Sebastian Vettel Achieve Next Year?

The other day, my friend announced that he had put a bet on Sebastian Vettel to win the 2009 championship. It may only have been a couple of quid, but at odds of 40-1, he's looking at a pretty healthy win of £80 if it comes in.

It may sound like a long shot, but I happen to think there may be a chance. After all, he did win in a team that used to be called Minardi...

When you look back at Vettel's win in Italy, you realise what great talent this young man has. This isn't a result that was gifted to him, and even though he may have benefited from the bad weather over the weekend, that's no excuse for the other drivers to be so crap in comparison.

You don't get pole position by chance, and you don't outpace McLarens in racing situations by chance. And with a string of great results towards the end of the season, it proves it just wasn't one good race for the team.

It's also no fluke that Vettel managed to score more points than the other three Red Bull drivers added together.

Vettel is still incredibly young, and will undoubtedly win a championship at some point (I'm hoping for a Ferrari team containing Kubica and Vettel in the future!), but what can he achieve in 2009?

He should completely annihilate Webber in the same car, and if the car is good enough, he may even pick up a handful of victories. If the car's a dog, he may have to settle for just the one.

Whatever happens, I don't expect him to stay at Red Bull for long, he's already proved he should be in one of the top teams.

In my view, the Kubica-Vettel superteam should already have been created at BMW, but sadly Vettel committed himself too early, and he is probably regretting it.

When my friend told me about his bet, I told him he was an idiot. As I write this, the first tests have just finished and Vettel is comfortably quickest. I might pop down to the bookies later.