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 fuck 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

 

[Fenderman]

I'd better knock up a new poster then.

 

[RasputinLives]

Personally I think we witnessed the best attacking driver in the field go up against the best defensive driver in the field yesterday and for me it was a shame it was decided on an artifical device like DRS.

Hamilton had a faster car and as only he can he was relentlessly hounding Vettel but you had to be impressed how Seb consistantly nailed the corners leading up to the DRS zone making sure Lewis was just too far behind to take full advantage. Credit to Lewis he kept on in there and eventually took advantage of the traffic - I'd like to have seen him do it outside of the DRS zone(and we know he can) but you use the tools you're given.

So label it the car or him being 'lucky' all you like but yesterday was a prime example of the skill set Seb has. He was being chased down by a much faster Hamilton for the majority of the race and managed to keep him behind for a good 30 laps by being consistantly quick through the parts of the track he knew were leading up to overtaking spots and by being fully aware of what Lewis was doing. I don't think there is another driver in the field that can do this nearly as well as Vettel.

To be honest I hope to see more situations where we have the greatested defensive against the greatest attacking - and if you could throw in Alonso - a mixture of both - lurking in the background ready to pounce at an error for either then that would complete the whole thing.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I don't think Hamilton had a faster car at all, neither did Vettel. To say that Hamilton was much faster than Vettel for most of the race is just not true by any reckoning.

Vettel drove brilliantly but Hamilton drove better and won. On pace there was less than a Rizla between them and I believe that it was Vettel driving the car with the fastest potential.

 

[RasputinLives]

Hamilton was faster than Vettel for the majority of the Grand Prix. Hence him catching and overtaking him. Anyone else but Vettel in that Redbull and Lewis would have been past by half distance and 20 seconds ahead by end of the Grand Prix IMO.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I don't disagree with your point on Vettel making the difference in keeping Hamilton behind or that Vettel's defensive driving was of absolute top notch standard, hence why Hamilton got ahead of Webber so much more easily. My point is that Vettel + Red Bull was equal to Hamilton + McLaren. We just disagree on how much was down to the driver and how much was down to the car, which is fine with me.

 

[RasputinLives]

Well I'm happy to disagree but I still see no reason as to why Hamilton is given the benifit of the doubt and its concluded his speed is down to him over the car and why Vettel is concluded it was his car providing the pace.

Both were driving cars that have been class of the field on different occasions. Why its hard to believe the Mclaren was the quicker car on Sunday I don't know.

But like you said lets agree to disagree

 

[ExtremeNinja]

But like you said lets agree to disagree

At last! Phew...

 

[Brogan]

Congratulations Vettel, only the third driver to get a third consecutive WDC.

 

[FB]

For a driver who many question he's not done bad has he?

 

[Lewywo4]

A deserved world champion, especially after being spun around, and nearly taken out by Senna.

 

[OnTheRaggedEdge]

Well done Adrian Newey, fantastic job.

 

[Josh]

Well done Sebastian Vettel, fantastic job.

 

[Jen]

Well done the two of you and thanks to lady luck, the third member of the team!

 

[FB]

There's only one record to go for now - Schumie's five in a row.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Im not a Seb fan but I have huge respect for him. I said very early in his career (China 2007) 'that lad is world champion material'.
I'm sure we all thought he had lost it today after the second corner, but his quality really shone through to come back from dead last. He won not just because he had the most points but because this year he was better when it mattered.
He is world champion. You don't get that by accident. Well done Seb.

 

[siffert_fan]

Well done Adrian Newey, fantastic job.

I didn't know that Newey had a Superlicense .

 

[Brogan]

Interesting comment from Vettel today.

"A lot of people tried to play dirty tricks [during the season], but we did not get distracted by that and kept going"

He didn't elaborate so I'm not sure what he means.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

I get the feeling we haven't seen the very best from Vettel yet and they's lots more potential waiting to be unlocked. I think Vettel is now one of the greats in F1 history and I think he needs to leave Red Bull in the next season or two and go and turn another team into a championship winning team.

However a very well done on becoming the youngest ever 3 times world champion.

 

[Il_leone]

Interesting comment from Vettel today.

"A lot of people tried to play dirty tricks [during the season], but we did not get distracted by that and kept going"

He didn't elaborate so I'm not sure what he means.

Both Ferrari and Mclaren have questioned the legality of the car with the drilled holes flooring that they were asked to change in Canada - Ferrari did earlier but Red Bull did not until the protests kept coming

Obviously the big one was the EBD ban and obviously Massa's deliberate grid penalty, Vettel's penalties at Hockenheim and Monza but that was not necessary for him to make such comments

Red Bull apparently felt hard done above the double diffuser in 2009 when Max Mosley told them there is no such thing as "spirit of the rules" when Newey was caught out by this and they've taken the stance that their car is legal until proven otherwise

 

[Slyboogy]

Well done.

I was told that it rare to see get records broken, yet, since following F1 I've seen records get broken constantly. First Schumacher, then Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Vettel.

No matter what gets thrown at him, he comes out and does his job, still gets criticised for as he's not a 'great', but you really must be to win 3 titles, in a row makes it even more special.