Vettel's comeback drive at Interlagos

[teabagyokel]

Foaad - Looking at the whole weekend, a second down isn't that far away from where Red Bull were in the dry.

When we talk of great (not merely very good) comeback drives, we would normally expect a podium in my opinion. Sadly, Vettel only made it back to sixth.

Ok, it was very good, but great it was not. I would look at his Bus Stop performance as the best Vettel comeback; the difference between coming from the middle and the back is pretty much blasting past slow-moving traffic.

 

[MCLS]

And at Spa he wasn't helped with a car that was purely set up for the race

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Vettel's Brazil race wasn't that great tbh. Hamilton (and I think someone else but can't remember who...?) was running ahead in the latter stages of the race and was taken out, and both Toro Rossos and Schumacher practically jumped out of the way. Put them back in the mix and he's looking at 7th at best, probably 8th or 9th.

Wasn't he only 12 seconds off the lead by lap 2 or something?

 

[Bill Boddy]

It did look as though he had a bagful of team mates.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Indeed Bill Boddy or even a plethora

 

[Il_leone]

Yes Seb don't worry its only a Toro Rosso behind you

 

[FB]

He was a very lucky boy, not to get more significant damage in the "which way am I going" incident and the cars which didn't put up much of a fight for position. By the same token if Massa hadn't "taken one for the team" in Austin Fernando wouldn't have been in the same position come Brazil. What comes around goes around.

 

[Bushi]

@no-FIAt-please
It was Hulkenberg who hit Hamilton in a attempt to overtake him. But even so, if that didn't happen Vettel would still be WC.
Also Vettel did lose a lot of time doing 2 pitstop after each other, even more time at the second stop, because the team didn't know why he was there.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

I know that Vettel would have still have been champion, but surely finishing a position higher because of retirements makes his drive look all the more impressive when it actually wasn't. As for the pit stops he chose to come in very late in the laps I think (at least one of them was), he could have waited one more lap and used the non-verbal signal (his radio was dodgy if I remember correct) drivers have on the wheel and taken the pain in the next slower lap, it's not unexpected that your team might not be ready that late on a lap.

 

[Bushi]

Waiting a lap more when it's really coming down in your final championship race is quite risky. He choose the safest way and lost a lot of time by that, but probably would have lost a lot of time going around again. I never said it was that impressive, but it still was a good drive from him with a beaten up car. Gaining a place because of an retirement is nothing knew in motor racing. Some guys even win because of that.

 

[downforce]

It was a fairly good drive but not in any way outstanding.

 

[Il_leone]

Compared to other outstanding championship drives

Mansells Hungary 1992 was better

Schumacher 's BRazil 2006 losing cause was even better to come back from 70 seconds down after a puncture

Nothing will top Senna's Suzuka 1998 drive.. coming through from the back after an absolute dreadful start to win the race beat Prost and secure the title

 

[Bushi]

Il_leone

Yeah, Mansell's active suspension did a marvelous race back than. And people saying here Vettel gained places because somebody retired, in that race 12 people retired.

Schumacher's race was indeed a great one, but different times and different kind of competition

Senna's drive again great, but the Mclaren from '88 was by far the best car on the grid.

Raikkonen's Suzuka race was great. It's all relative, i guess.

 

[Il_leone]

Bushi

Mansell had to do it on probably the worst track for overtaking - Hungary

Vettel's car is the best car on the grid and he had a few teammates (inc Schumacher) who simply jumped out of the way

Senna had no safety cars to actually get him to close the gap like Vettel to win nor did Schumacher in 2005 in his vain to catch Alonso

Schumacher had to claw back 70 seconds on the track

Senna won having to pass Prost - his greatest rival near the end to secure the world championship ... I don't think you can ask for any better than that then beating your main rival by passing him on the track to secure the world title


Raikkonen's drive was a great drive BUT the championship was already over the previous race

 

[RickD]

I am willing to agree or disagree with something concrete, not with an abstract, unsubstantiated 'idea'.



Vettel's fight through the field was post turn-3.
So I ask again, what did Vettel do wrong to deserve this unpraise?

And since your praise Hamilton, is being blind-sided by a driver that was out of sight really so much more 'punishable' with non-praise than outbraking yourself?

And how did he regain time in well-timed pit stops?

By the time of the first safety car, he was already back in p5; Hamilton ended in p7, so again a difference in judgement that seems unsubstantiated.

Sorry, are we talking about the race at Interlagos in 2012? I am confused as it was Turn 4 that Vettel decided to cut across the apex of a corner with another driver already on that line.

I do not praise Hamilton much, but he did not outbrake himself, he was used as a brake, which then took him out of the race. Also, I would like to say that with an indestructible, very fast Red Bull, it seems Vettel can get away with his mistakes, whereas with nearly any other car in the field, he would have been out of the race on the exit to turn 4.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

...or the entry, seeing as that was the way he was pointing.

 

[Bushi]

Il_leone

Even so, Mansell's race is not impressive or great in my eyes. Didn't Frank Williams once said that his cars win races and not his drivers?

The Red Bull's where not the fastest cars at Interlagos, Mclaren was and Ferrari and Hulkenberg weren't slow either in the race. You also have to take into account that Vettel's car was damaged.

Schumacher had nothing to loose and it was his last race. But he really drove the wheels of that Ferrari.

Senna was a rain master, was driven by revenge of the year before and i think Prost had a malfunctioning gearbox. Still a marvellous race of him non the less.

I know Raikkonen his 2005 Suzuka drive wasn't a championship race, but for me that was an impressive race from him from the back.

 

[downforce]

Il_leone
Didn't Frank Williams once said that his cars win races and not his drivers?

Not many races they don't.

 

[downforce]

I think RickD sums it up well. Vettel had an indestructible and extremely fast Red-Bull that allowed him to smash into another car, have that car smash back into him again and get away with it. Then still have a car with race winning pace (from the front).

Multiple teammate syndrome helped as well.

Sure Vettel did what was required of him in the end, but it was nothing special. In fact Vettel himself has had much better drives than that day (and I don't mean Abu Dhabi which also involved a fair bit of luck). There are other performances of Vettel that have impressed me more than Brazil ------ which didn't.

This race is merely stands out for him because it was the championship decider.

 

[downforce]

Just received the 2007 Formula 1 season review today, and Massas drive at the 2007 british gp was fairly good.