Intelligent Vettel

Foaad

Rookie
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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, 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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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