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

 

[Road of Bones]

I don't feel privileged: I feel exasperated, disappointed, irritated and ultimately disaffected.

I refuse to accept that just because Seb's getting all the cake these days, I should simply ignore how unfulfilling F1 is at the moment and embrace his success as some paragon of skill and achievement. I just can't do it. Sorry. It fills me with inertia...

 

[FB]

Imagine if we still had in season testing. Schumie had similar dominance in the early noughties as he spent most of his life bashing round Fiorano squeezing every last millisecond out the the Ferrari package. Vettel has achieved what he has achieved in the Red Bull whilst only being able to drive the car every other weekend. He'd be lapping the field if there was a similar amount of testing to Schumacher's day.

 

[Road of Bones]

 

[Kewee]

Imagine if we still had in season testing. Schumie had similar dominance in the early noughties as he spent most of his life bashing round Fiorano squeezing every last millisecond out the the Ferrari package. Vettel has achieved what he has achieved in the Red Bull whilst only being able to drive the car every other weekend. He'd be lapping the field if there was a similar amount of testing to Schumacher's day.

How true FB, not to mention the unlimited spending at the time and the special relationship Ferrari and Schumacher shared with Bridgestone. Ferrari's spending during some of those years reached an estimated $700 million, also rumored to be boosted by Government money. Seb's not doing too bad at all considering how level the playing field has become due to the rules being unchanged for such a significant length of time. As I said FB, you know I'm an Alonso fan but I feel privileged to be able to witness the career and growth Vettel. The errors are largely gone now and what we have is a very very special driver.

 

[RasputinLives]

He's also a driver whose in the sport to win things. He is by no means the highest paid driver on the grid and it would have been quite easy for him to win a couple of titles and take the huge pay cheque and go to one of the big paying teams like Schumacher and Alonso did but he seems more interested in winning as much as he can rather than being paid as much as he can.

 

[Kewee]

True RasputinLives, I never liked the fit between Ferrari and Schumacher and I'm not sure Italy liked it much either. They liked the titles but would have been happier had they been won by an Italian speaking driver. A little different with Alonso though. I think it was always his dream to drive for Ferrari, it's a perfect fit for his Latin temperament which may also cause a few flare-ups occasionally though I believe they will always rise above that, on and off track. I'm not so sure Alonso is driven by money now either. He's now wealthy enough to driven by ambitions for titles rather than more wealth, his return to Spain indicates that. He sacrificed a third of his income in tax to be closer to family and friends which I think says it all. I would still dearly love to see Alonso and Vettel go head to head in near equal cars, probably won't happen though.

 

[RasputinLives]

I was reffering to Fernando's jump from Renault to Mclaren than his switch to Ferrari.

It seems both Schumi and Alonso took the 'I am now a superstar' option after a couple of titles where as Vettel has gone for the 'lets see how much I can win' option.

 

[tooncheese]

RasputinLives, Alonso had already signed for McLaren before 2006. And Renetton in both cases didn't have the money to stay at the top for a prolonged period of time, whereas McLaren and Ferrari did/do. Vettel is already in a top team, and so doesn't need to move to secure future world titles.

 

[teabagyokel]

Vettel doesn't need to leave Red Bull to prove himself any more than Jimmy Clark needed to leave Lotus.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Clark had Hill. Vettel has Webber... and now Ricciardo who IMO hasn't bested Vergne by much.

 

[Kewee]

Having a strong teammate is mixed blessings. Their strength will take points away from other team leaders, those drivers they have to beat. A weaker teammate would leave Vettel having to win the title on his own. It's obvious points earned by Webber during the last four years have helped Vettel win his titles. If Webber hadn't taken the win off Alonso at Silverstone last year Alonso would be World Champion. There are other examples during the last four years, that ones obvious though.

 

[teabagyokel]

No-one in F1 history has ever jumped through all the hoops Vettel seemingly must in order to prove his worth.

 

[Kewee]

So true teabagyokel, as I've already said we may well be watching the greatest driver the sports ever seen. He had a few issues as he was maturing, what driver doesn't as they're breaking through to the level we are now witnessing. An absolute joy to watch, I feel a little sad for those that can't see it.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Classic.

 

[Mephistopheles]

He's not a bad little pedaler is he.

 

[Bushi]

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/the-real-sebastian-vettel/

 

[teabagyokel]

We had quite a few youngsters on our scheme at the time, 16 or 18 of them, but he was the only one with the initiative to come to the F1 factory and introduce himself.

That really is just everything we know about the guy, isn't it?

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

For all we know Webber is total crap and should no longer be on the grid, Ricciardo will give us a reference against Vergne at least. Still it is impossible to fully credit Vettel until he races against either Hamilton or Alonso in the same machinery.

If you want a comparison to a real driver right now ... try Rosberg ...

 

[Kewee]

no-FIAt-please ….. Webber beat Vettel to pole at Abu Dhabi. Webber past Alonso to take the win at Silverstone 2012.
I could continue and make a decent list but I won't bother.
What was it you said. Oh thats right, Webber is total crap.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Actually if you read my post again it started with "for all we know". It's nice that you can state two moments from two whole seasons, I was actaully at that race in which Webber took the win at Silverstone. As for Abu Dhabi did you notice how he got blitzed for over 30 seconds on the Sunday?

The gap between Webber and Vettel has only grown larger since 2010, hence either Webber's getting worse or Vettel's getting better. A mixture I think. However only way to know for sure is to pit Vettel against the other top drivers, like I said in my original post.