The 2013 Season

[Fenderman]

Some things must be seriously gutting. Like:

• Knowing that your team has worked its guts out to give you a car that feels great but the tyres don't connect it to the road;
  
• The car ahead steams off into the distance then laps slower than you do, so you catch it up and snap at its butt through the twisty bits, where you are considerably quicker, and then blows you away again on the straights;
• You want to pump in 100% but you are reigned in to conserve 10% to save Pirelli's tyres;
• The Vettel/Red Bull appreciation society doesn't appreciate the work your lot are doing to battle for what turns out to be the crumbs below the podium.

That would pee me off as well.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Knowing that you could be going faster but because of the dirty air and the marbles overtakes are only possible in a maximum of two places per lap on the straights. We used to see the faster drivers overtaking on bends but that has gone.

Bring in extra hard tyres with no requirement to have a pit stop in a race.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

On a separate subject, are we seeing drivers lock up their tyres more now, and this season in particular, than we have in previous years?

I'd say we're getting less lock ups, only because the drivers can't risk being aggressive with the tyres as a flat spot hampers performance to a greater extent than in previous seasons.

 

[Slyboogy]

I have no doubt the Lewis, Fernando and Kimi are amazing drivers but I wish they"d stop talking in the media like there is something wrong with F1 because they aren't at the front, accept the rules are the same for everyone and knuckle down with their teams and try to sort it.

cries of 'we're too talented to be fighting over 5th' are a little bit annoying when they were fighting over 5th because they were out raced by 4 drivers in front of them.

I've never heard Raikkonen talk down on Red Bull or Vettel or anyone else (apart from Perez), it actually tends to be Hamilton, Alonso, occasionally Button and Rosberg,

It is a bit sickening, both Alonso and Hamilton are very quick to say it's the car, and rather than saying 'Vettel was uncatchable today' they tend to say 'the Red Bull car'.

While they are doing that though, Vettel's romping away to his fourth title and will end up having more titles than those two combined by the end of the season.

 

[Hamberg]

They both had 'the car' in 2007.

 

[gethinceri]

Sour grapes, neither Mercedes nor Ferrari were good enough, that means driver, car, team combined.

 

[Fenderman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24428367

"Fans have repeatedly booed the German as he celebrated victories on the podium, but Hamilton, who has fallen to fourth in the standings, insists the Red Bull driver deserves to win the title.

"He has driven well all year," said the 28-year-old. "I've just looked at his points and he has had second, first, second, first all year. He's done the perfect job and he deserves it."

If that is slagging Vettel off then Ik ben Nederlander

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives To be fair Lewis' whole race was screwed up by his team keeping him out for so long he was up to 5 seconds a lap slower and then when his teammate passed him and then shattered his wing they decided to service Rosberg rather than Hamilton who probably could have had his tyres fitted by the time Rosberg strolled in

Its a sign of frustration understandably both ALonso and Hamilton do not deserve this sort of beating week in and week out but they are let down by the failings of their team

 

[RasputinLives]

Fenderman I said they both have reluctantly accepted Vettel into the club.

I still think there is an element of 'if I'm not at the front there must be something wrong with the sport' from the likes of Lewis and Fernando.

 

[sushifiesta]

If in the next four races Vettel scores, at least...

• 23pts more than Alonso.
• 5pts less than Hamilton.
• 12pts less than Raikkonen.

I think he'll win the championship in India, if some quick calculations in my head are correct.

It's been two races since I posted this and in those two races Alonso has scored 24pts more than Vettel. It's also now impossible for Alonso to win more races than Vettel has this season. All this means that Vettel will be champion in India if he scores at least 2pts less than Alonso in the next two races (and he can be champion at Suzuka too).

 

[Fenderman]

I happen to agree with what they are actually saying, as I in fact agreed with Vettel when he was complaining about the tyres. There is something wrong.

We know how good Alonso is. He may possibly have peaked but I don't think so. Clearly he is not getting the car he needs and he's fed up. We also know that Ferrari have the financial resources to deliver a great car but haven't done so. He's fed up and so are a lot of us punters.

We also know how good Hamilton is. We know too that the Merc' has been beyond his pre-season expectations. However, Merc's expectations for Korea were high but the race was a kick in the face for them. Lewis was fed up and so were his fans ... and me.

That both drivers answered the questions put to them by the interviewers honestly and openly whilst in obviously dejected and disappointed frames of mind is no reason to go on with this castigation of their characters. That is what is doing my head in. It's incessant and it devalues the very good stuff that you RasputinLives (and others taking a similar stance) generally write.

 

[RasputinLives]

Fenderman. I'm sorry that I'm doing your head in but unfourtunatly I get the impression more and more that there are a certain number of drivers who seem to think their past acheivements entitled them to be at the front in F1 and act likw everyone should agree with them.

Lewis and Fernando were fighting for 5th because thats where their performances were that day. This constant 'you're the best. No you're the best' that goes on in the media is starting to seem like an old boys club.

No one deserves to be at the front and you're only as good as your last Grand Prix.

 

[Fenderman]

Maybe someone should tell the bloody journalists to stop asking the same dumb question, since we know their answers. Personally I have not heard them say that they automatically deserve to be number one. They are saying they want the kit to prove it. As far I'm concerned they are not wrong.

 

[RasputinLives]

Blaming the journalists is a very easy way out.

There is an in crowd in F1 who like to pat each other on the back and like to belittle new comers with a bit of speed.

Lewis was a victim of this himself when he first came in. Wasn't he labelled dangerous when he came in? How many young drivers right now have been given a 'dangerous' tag by the main stream drivers after a few errors?.

The club at the top don't like to let people in and right now its a bit put out that Vettel has burst their bubble so they complment each other in the press trying to play mind games and as, Sly points out, refer to the 'Red Bull' car or how its then vs Newy.

It all comes across a bit sulky.

 

[Fenderman]

It would really help to kow where this "Vettel's gatecrashing our club" thing comes from. Just because Hamilton and Alonso have a thing for each other doesn't mean they object to Vettel as fellow driver and human being. It doesn't gel with anything I've heard them actually say. I've read misquotes aplenty in Autosport who can't seem to quote anybody in context, and even less accurate twaddle in Pitpass.

As far as the Red Bull car is concerned it's no fantasy that it is the best all-round package on the grid and that that is mainly down to its superior downforce and driveability. Ignoring that is as ridiculous as ignoring Vettel's ability.

I posted a quote above from an article on the BBC website which clearly demonstrates that Hamilton at least respects Vettel and his right to be at the top the tree right now. That is not the first time that he has praised Vettel so how come his comments like that are not on the current playlist?

 

[Il_leone]

Which begs the question would Vettel be this good if he had serious competition as a teammate ? Everyone keeps harping about Webber being a world class driver but he's not in either Hamilton or Alonso's class

Ferrari have been very average as Gary Anderson puts it for 3 years whilst Mercedes are still yet to find consistency where they still yo-yo between Saturday and Sunday

Alonso's comment was one of resignation with a slight irony that Red Bull have done better job and deserve it (than Ferrari) because he's run out of finger wagging and the knives are turning on him at Ferrari and the comment by Paul Hembery about asking the soon to be 4 x WDC managing tyres better was one below the belt

Hamilton envies Vettel's consistency so he's hoping Mercedes get their turbos sorted

 

[Fenderman]

Hamilton envies Vettel's consistency so he's hoping Mercedes get their turbos sorted

... and their blooming traction ...

 

[teabagyokel]

What probably grates is the ways the two teams managed to lose themselves a run at the title.

Mercedes lost their chance when they were denied a chance to set up the new tyres because they messed up their communications at Barcelona.

Ferrari, meanwhile, were doing great on Alonso's car. But Massa's inability to keep the old tyres effective - ask yourself how big a proportion of the "random" tyre failures were Massa or Perez - completely nullified the advantage they had.

Their own stupid failures, the title down the drain.

 

[Hamberg]

RasputinLives

When Hamilton or Alonso have the car they usually win do they not?

That's where the frustration is. Vettel always has a good car. I've no doubt Hamilton wanted that second Red Bull seat and unlike Alonso and Vettel he isn't afraid to have a competitive teammate.

They have both performed brilliantly, rarely put a foot wrong yet are that far behind. The entire fan base is pissed off with this season, I'm pretty sure they're entitled to be.

 

[RasputinLives]

Actually Hamilton and Alonso have had the best car on various occassions and not won.

Vettel has an amazing knack of being consistantly good when he does have the best equiptment.