Current Sebastian Vettel

Lots of threads have alluded to having a discussion about the current world champion so lets get it all off our collective chests (oooeer!)

Lots has been has been written about this young man from his testing debut with BMW Sauber in 2006 aged just 19 - he then progressed to the the toro rosso team for his first full race season in 2008 - the memorable race being his drive in the wet at Fuji where he managed to rear end his future team mate Mark Webber who said ""It's kids isn't it... kids with not enough experience – they do a good job and then they **** it all up." - Little was Mark to know he would be paired with the "Kid" just 2 years later.

His maiden win came at the 2008 Italian GP where he qualified up from, the race started under the safety car in the rain and the young German led from start to finish in the Toro Rosso - becoming the youngest winner of a grand prix ever.

Then we enter the era of the Red Bull. In 2009 he joined the Red Bull team, which got off to a torrid start as he managed to crash into Kubika in Australia, a feat he would go on to repeat during the 09 season.

Last year needs no mention........

So to the crux of the matter. Is Sebastian Vettel?

the real deal, the baby schumi, the new pretender - a genuine racer? - aka Wunderkind

or

A very quick driver, who lucked into a very fast car and can bang it on pole and lead from lights to flag and be the quickest pilot of a car, yet can't overtake for toffee? aka WunOrAother

 

[sushifiesta]

What record?

 

[Bill Boddy]

Youngest driver to score a point.

 

[Plutus]

That's what records are there for aren't they. Kvyat had a great race today and received his first well deserved points.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Herr Vettel has made it quite clear that he values having as many records as possible. Not a good day for him at all.

Has anyone seen anything about his engine problem? He did talk about it in an interview but obviously at that time his knowledge was limited. If it is not fixable within the rules then he is already in a potentially serious situation.

 

[Bushi]

Apparently the battery didn't charge up and they lost a couple of cylinders Bill Boddy.

Vettel later confirmed an engine failure.

"On the second formation lap for some reason we lost power," he explained.

"Everything is linked to each other so the battery didn't charge and I didn't get any power from the battery.

"We tried to recover as much as we could and at one point I thought there was a slight improvement, but then we realised that there was a bigger problem with the engine - it looked we lost a couple of cylinders - and when you don't have the power from the engine, you can't make the whole system function properly and you lose even more power and so we had to stop."

"We know by now that the engine failed for some reason."

 

[Bushi]

According to Remi Taffin it was a loss of full throttle.

Renault's head of track operations Remi Taffin said the engine manufacturer accepted some blame for Vettel's struggles around the Albert Park street circuit.

"Basically if you take his entire weekend, in FP1 it was quite a good step from Bahrain [testing], FP2 was OK, FP3 was a step down on driveability, qualifying was a step down [too]. We made it worse and worse and worse," said Taffin.

"We accept we don't have something consistent enough, but we've learned again. It is sometimes difficult to pick these issues with the mapping or the software.

"We worked around this for the race, [but] Sebastian had a loss of full throttle power, which we trace now and we will try to correct for the next race."

 

[Bill Boddy]

So the engine will not work if the batteries don't charge. From the number of problems one of the RBRs had with the KERS last season it is going to be a hard year for them.

 

[PeeJay]

A disappointing start to the season for Vettel nevertheless Riccardo demonstrates that the car can challenge for pole and run at the front if it can address reliability issues.

 

[Hamberg]

And chea... interpretation of the regulations problems

 

[Titch]

I don't think Ricciardo cheated deliberately, or even cheated at all, I would say he was a little overenthusiastic.

 

[Bill Boddy]

The stewards cleared Ricciardo of any complicity with cheating, it was the team that they found guilty.

 

[Hamberg]

Yeah Titch what Bill Boddy said. That was aimed at the team not the driver.

 

[RasputinLives]

All the F1 teams are cheating. Red Bull just got caught.

 

[Hamberg]

Finally!

 

[PeeJay]

With so many rule changes all of the teams are pushing the new rules to the limit. I do not think they are cheating but they are pushing the limits. FIA is watching and so are the other teams.

 

[teabagyokel]

As one of the top F1 teams, they're definitely cheating. The question is how?

 

[Josh]

I think you mean "as one of the F1 teams".

 

[Hamberg]

On a more serious note, did anyone hear the team radio feature on sky after the race and Vettel going apeshit? Too funny for words, Felipe baby-esque to the extreme!

 

[teabagyokel]

Josh - I feel it entirely possible that Caterham are running well within the regulations.

 

[Josh]

That would explain a lot...