Originally Posted by Si_Crewe:
“Not too sure about that.
Webber seems to have suffered more with an unreliable KERS than Vettel which has accounted for some of the deficit.
The point was more that yesterday, particularly, the commentators seemed to be suggesting that Vettel can manage the race strategy and take care of his car and tyres better than any other driver out there and I don't think that's the case at all.
When you're in a race-winning car there's not really much to do, strategy-wise, other than follow the plan.
When you're following another car closely your tyres are always going to suffer more than the tyres of the car you're chasing so being out in front means you are rarely going to have to compromise your tyres in the same way that a driver who's pushing harder with a slower car will.
If Vettel were driving a Mercedes or Renault, do we think he'd be as serene and easy on his tyres as he is at the moment?
I don't.
Don't get me wrong, he obviously IS a good driver but I think there's a lot of hyperbole surrounding his performance when the simple fact is that he's in a situation where he's not exactly under pressure himself or forced to push the car.
Two proper (IMO) examples of Vettel under pressure were the races in China and Monaco.
In China he was on older tyres than Hamilton and he had absolutely no answer to Hamiltons pace.
There was no demonstration of astounding skill to negate Hamiltons advantage.
In Monaco he did a terrific job of looking after a set of tyres that must have been utterly shagged. Being Monaco, it would have been all but impossible for Alonso or Button to have passed him but it would have been easy for him try to stay ahead and stick it in the wall.
So, he is certainly competent but I haven't seen anything that demonstrates any extraordinary gift for elevating a car beyond its theoretical ability.”
The points you make about tyre wear are correct, I cant argue with that. However I would say with these Pirelli tyres, if you are on an old set, whilst the other front runners are on a new set, there isnt a driver that would be able to match the pace of the runners on new tyres. Also with the tyre compounds being new, there is a learning curve with how to manage them.
I would say Vettel is more than competent. I think your doing him a disservice by saying he is competent. As for a driver being able to get more out of a car, I dont think there is one. Alonso probably the best one, but if you compare him to Schumacher (1st time round), then they are not even close. If you look at the greatest drivers of the last 20 years, the current drivers probably would not be mentioned. Hamilton/Vettel have the potential to be there, but not yet. They are young enough to learn and progress, and could be one of the modern greats.
Originally Posted by Si_Crewe:
“Not sure what your point is there.
In both cases, a good driver in the best car won the championship.
What's more, from the spectators POV, they won it in an exciting championship year.
If fans begin to complain about Vettel at the moment it's probably for the same reason that they complained about Mansell or prost taking their championships with Williams without being forced to break a sweat.
It really doesn't make for exciting viewing when one team absolutely blitzes the championship.
if you're a fan of that team/driver then you probably won't mind but you shouldn't be surprised when others DO mind.”
My point was, that Vettel is basically not getting the credit he deserves. Button won in Canada, and they were still going on about it at this race. Vettel wins, and its "a good drive by Vettel, but then hes got the best car"...a backhanded compliment if you will. He has got the best car, however so has Mark. You still have to drive it, and not make a mistake. Something Vettel has done all season. I put Canada down as a calculated risk he decided to take.