Sebastian Vettel has named his new 2012 Red Bull chassis ’Abbey’.
With the Adrian Newey-penned RB8, the 24-year-old German will push to become F1’s third-ever triple consecutive world champion, after Juan Manuel Fangio and mentor Michael Schumacher.
Recently, the highly-superstitious German has given his F1 cars a female name — the 2010 winner was Luscious Liz, and last year’s dominant RB7 ’Kinky Kylie’.
So superstitious is Vettel that - as in 2011 - he has waited until the Wednesday before the season-opening Australian grand prix to decide the new name.
Germany’s Bild newspaper said Vettel’s 2012 mount is ’Abbey’ — perhaps after his favourite band The Beatles’ album Abbey Road, or the Silverstone corner?
"Neither is true," he insisted, "it’s just a cool name."