Intelligent Vettel

[Foaad]

I have read many articles where journalists comment on the intelligence of Vettel, something that is perhaps missed or ignored on the overall speed of drivers, however in the recent article from Mark Hughes there is an interesting and extensive analysis of not only his but other drivers' traits as well. Some noteworthy bits include:

He has a very powerful array of assets but perhaps the most potent of all is his raw intelligence; a hungry mind and a sharp one.

Vettel's hungry mind had absorbed the sport's history in detail and even in the midst of coping with a problem during the race, he had the spare capacity to start quoting it.

"I hadn't realised how much more there was to come from him," Sauber sighed reflectively. "The most amazing thing about him is his intelligence."
Alonso was another intelligent driver, someone ventured. "Yes, true. But Seb is much more so."

Vettel's intelligence seems to be of a broader spectrum than that of any of his peers, a sign usually that it's more adaptable - and it's adaptation that has marked out his performances this year.

Combine that with the traits described earlier - and those of the Red Bull RB7, a car with devastating performance but not very raceable on account of lack of straight-line speed and a weak Kers power-boost system. That is one very tricky package to maximise.

The full article can be read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/15926791.stm

 

[Brogan]

Load of fawning rubbish if you ask me.

I haven't seem him exhibit any more intelligence than any of the other drivers.

 

[Mephistopheles]

If he is the genius you make him out to be he wouldn't driving a race car..

 

[FB]

All drivers now a days need to be as much engineer as lead foot. For me where Vettel scores is his ability to take the team along with him, in the way Schumacher did, although it is easier to believe in someone who is winning all the time. That said, I think his visit to Pirelli pre-season marks him out as someone who not only thinks about the engineering side of things but also the emotional side of the sport. I bet a few others drivers will be off to the Pirelli factory during this off season to see what they can learn.

 

[Brogan]

As I posted on the other thread about that Pirelli visit, unless Pirelli are giving out extra data to those who visit the factory, he won't have learned a thing.

It was nothing more than a PR visit.

 

[sobriety]

Even on PR visits you can notice things that you're not supposed to, for instance whilst watching the 'how to build a super car' show I noticed McLaren mechanics in the background pushing what looked to be this years car, only with top exiting exhausts...

 

[sportsman]

All drivers now a days need to be as much engineer as lead foot. For me where Vettel scores is his ability to take the team along with him, in the way Schumacher did, although it is easier to believe in someone who is winning all the time. That said, I think his visit to Pirelli pre-season marks him out as someone who not only thinks about the engineering side of things but also the emotional side of the sport. I bet a few others drivers will be off to the Pirelli factory during this off season to see what they can learn.

Well said.Fully agree with your opinion.

 

[GermanF1]

If he is the genius you make him out to be he wouldn't driving a race car..

I don't think that's quite fair. Let's say that he is as enormously intelligent as described in the above article, why wouldn't he be driving a racing car, if this is what he loves. Why should he bother being a lawyer or a teacher if he doesn't want to do these professions? He loves racing, he clearly does, and that's why he is doing it.

 

[FB]

He will also get paid a lot more by being a racing driver than most other professions. That said, I think the word "genius" is much over used, I've heard it in relation to many sportsmen including footballers, snooker and darts players. They may be very good, phenomenal even but they are by no means geniuses.

 

[Foaad]

Well here is another journalist giving his thoughts about Vettel on the show The flying lap around 1h mark, though I know what part of his answer Vettel nay sayers would focus on. According to him "he is the most intelligent grand prix driver, a very smart cookie " and "he says really deep things like in India"

http://smibs.tv/the-flying-lap/abu-dhabi-2011-debrief

 

[Bushi]

I ain't saying he is a genius, but he is a smat fella.
He was the only one with a shorter gear ratio in Monza, which gave him a benefit in quali and race.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I ain't saying he is a genius, but he is a smat fella.
He was the only one with a shorter gear ratio in Monza, which gave him a benefit in quali and race.

I suspect that he was not the one who made the decision.

 

[Bushi]

I suspect that he was not the one who made the decision.

I believe he was. I heard it a few times that he is the last in the pit to understand everything of the setup and were to improve from it.

 

[Foaad]

Bill, I think CH said in post race interview that they wanted Vettel to pit but he insisted that he could manage the tyres and only went quick enough in the places he needed to out of slow corners and was able to hold back Alonso for more than 10 laps before the red flag.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Being able to handle his tyres is not the same as deciding which gear ratio to use.

 

[Blog Zbod]

I think they are mistaking diligence for intelligence. There are many indications he is the most diligent driver of the current lot. If diligence leaves you better prepared, it certainly would tend also to make you appear intelligent.

The question in my mind is whether this superior diligence is the consequence of a superior intelligence.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

I think they are mistaking diligence for intelligence. There are many indications he is the most diligent driver of the current lot. If diligence leaves you better prepared, it certainly would tend also to make you appear intelligent.

The question in my mind is whether this superior diligence is the consequence of a superior intelligence.

Agree with the diligence comment, It could be said to be a Teutonic trait

He is clearly intelligent but to extrapolate this diligence into genius etc is maybe getting carried away