Vettel and traction control?

You make an important point, London424. In responding, I don't wish to wander off the topic of "Vettel and traction control?", but you're right; next year it will be a bigger factor for everyone. With this in mind, I believe that the weight limit should be increased (and personally think it likely will be for 2015), due to the new power units being heavier than was originally envisaged.

However, back on topic, I was offering the already significant difference in weight between the Red Bull drivers as a possible long-term factor in assessing their past performance relative to one another, even under current regulations because this thread has emerged largely as a result of a perceived performance difference to such an extent that traction control for only one of their drivers has been mooted as a possible explanation! It has also emerged in the aftermath of the Japanese Grand Prix, where Webber's chassis was supposedly 22kg heavier in addition to his extra body weight! That's a total difference of 39kg; the equivalent of Webber driving with a passenger called 'Neilly Halfur Webber' (admittedly offset by ballast), and that is why I think it relevant to consider in terms of what happened at Suzuka, 2013. Regardless of other factors, and although I admit to not having read the whole thread, I had the impression that the effects of such a difference in driver weight had not been mentioned.

Although differences are almost always a combination of factors, as I was suggesting earlier, the difference has been more significant at Red Bull than for other teams, even without the unfortunate burnout in Yeongnam! Ballast is always an advantage, but 39kg of it between team mates – as was supposedly the case last weekend – is, in the most literal sense, a massive difference.

– But yes, next season the problem is very likely to be exacerbated with larger framed drivers being at an even greater disadvantage.