Foaad
Rookie
Although it got lost amidst the bigger story of the championship, I felt that Vettel's comeback drive through the field and the context in which it was done was one of the most stellar performances of the year. In a car that got a decent whack, had damaged rear body that significantly affected the aerodynamics and with a cracked exhaust that required the power to be turned down, the ultimate speed of the car was so lacking that when the track was at its fastest (around lap 36) he was 0.55 seconds slower than Alonso and a full 1s off the pace of Hamilton. However, with the initial damp and tricky conditions, his talent came apparent. Nothing made it more apparent than when on the second lap, after haven been spun and unsure of the car's behaviour, he set a laptime that was fastest of all by an unbelievable 0.54s than Hamilton. However, it wasnt just that, below are the laptime comparisons of Vettel vs top 4 (ignoring lap 1 and pitstops)
Hamilton - Vettel was faster on 4 of the next 5 laps even as he fought his way from P20 to P11
Button - Vettel was faster on 5 of the next 6 laps even as he fought his way from P20 to P8
Alonso - Vettel was faster on the next 6 laps even as he fought his way from P20 to P8
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?...stian Vettel&dr2=Fernando Alonso#.UOTJdOTZb4Y
However, people still focus on Alonso reaching the podium even though he went off track couple of times, was nearly a minute behind leaders but closed in due to safety car, was not even in podium contention until Hamilton and Hulkenberg collided and even then needed a slowing Massa to finish P2. In my opinion Vettel's drive was of a much higher class under immense pressure of disintegrating car and non working radio.
Hamilton - Vettel was faster on 4 of the next 5 laps even as he fought his way from P20 to P11
Button - Vettel was faster on 5 of the next 6 laps even as he fought his way from P20 to P8
Alonso - Vettel was faster on the next 6 laps even as he fought his way from P20 to P8
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?...stian Vettel&dr2=Fernando Alonso#.UOTJdOTZb4Y
However, people still focus on Alonso reaching the podium even though he went off track couple of times, was nearly a minute behind leaders but closed in due to safety car, was not even in podium contention until Hamilton and Hulkenberg collided and even then needed a slowing Massa to finish P2. In my opinion Vettel's drive was of a much higher class under immense pressure of disintegrating car and non working radio.