Is Vettel overrated? What do you think

[raymondu999]

Yeah. That win had a fair bit of luck in his win though, but then again I think he had a few escape him on bad luck as well, so fair play to him. Quite a few people DNF'ed that race, right?

[ringo]

+1 Theres no need for that style of celebration.

I was starting to warm to Vettel before the season started, then came Melbourne qualifying with much expectation on Mark to get pole, Vettel was heard on the radio saying to his engineer "Lets stick it up them" followed by talk of paying Mark back for Germany 09 during the qualifying press conference...i'm all for a competitive spirit between team mates, but thats going a little too far for my taste...or maybe im just bitter

You see, Vettel was once seen as a nice manerable driver, and Hamilton and Alonso smug and self centred. Now it seems Vettel is verbally more cocky than the others when he gets the wins. Imagine how cocky he would be with as much wins as Alonso or Hamilton.
Alonso and Hamilton seem like they have the worst attitude, but it's mainly down to them having more air time. Others may be even worse when the fame and success comes.

[raymondu999]

I think that now we're starting to see him mature. In China we saw him starting to be a fighter to fight his way up. It wasn't as spectacular as Hamilton, but then we saw some of it. Also it looks like he's beginning to be able to handle the championship pressure very well... and just get his head down and drive even when the car is carrying a problem (like the last laps of Bahrain, and in Spain with his braking problem)

[xpensive]

But the way he was thrashed by Webber today makes me wonder, seriously.

[raymondu999]

Yes, but his car was suffering from a problem, whereas Webber's wasn't. And he had a LOAD of problems coming today and hindering his race.

[Poleman]

Where were the rest of the problems besides the brakes towards the last part of the race?Where was he when he was unable to keep up with Mark or close the gap to Lewis with his superior RB6?I think he is desperate and not Hamilton as the similar thread in this forum states.

[Pandamasque]

But the way he was thrashed by Webber today makes me wonder, seriously.

You can't always win. Webber simply got to grips with the car and the track better this weekend, clearly. Vettel did a good job still to nurse that car home.

[WhiteBlue]

I can offer some figures from my odds analysis for this issue.



The last review of the relative car odds show that the Red Bull is extremely strong compared to the other two top teams. It reflects more the dry qualifying performance than the race pace in my view. These figures are prepared by listing the WCC odds and dividing them through the score of the best team. This means the relative car odds reflect exactly how the other cars should perform relative to the leader in the expectations of the betters. I have used these figures to weight the driver odds with them.



Due to the good results and the relative slow car Alonso now leads in the relative driver rating of that view. Three weeks ago Vettel was leading but the extremely high perception of the RB6 has corrected that view. The rating in this picture comes pretty close to my own view. It says that Vettel is definitely in the top three driver class with Alonso and Hamilton.

[segedunum]

I can't say I was terribly keen on the way he surrendered second to Hamilton today. Quite why he decided to take to the run-off area I have no idea. His decision making is still iffy I think. As for the race, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt slightly because I can't say what effect his problems had on him during the whole race. Yes, he had a brake serious problem but it could have been there through the whole race.

However, today certainly isn't going to make the general thought doing the rounds that he can't handle not being in front go away.

[BreezyRacer]

I can't say I was terribly keen on the way he surrendered second to Hamilton today. Quite why he decided to take to the run-off area I have no idea. His decision making is still iffy I think. As for the race, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt slightly because I can't say what effect his problems had on him during the whole race. Yes, he had a brake serious problem but it could have been there through the whole race.

However, today certainly isn't going to make the general thought doing the rounds that he can't handle not being in front go away.

I agree with you .. that move with Hamilton was problematic but then again, with 3 cars in the corner he didn't take himself out either. And he could have easily felt he had something to prove to Hamilton especially after that stupid pit thing in China. And remember his tires were not up to temp yet, so he could have gotten a little loose and reeled the car in with the runoff area. So he was conservative, stayed in the race and eventually finished quite well thru some luck and learning to bring the car home. At the time he may have felt that he could pass Hamilton, which turns out he could not.

Maybe an equally vexing question is .. Is Webber underrated? He had everyone covered all weekend long, in every session on Saturday and Sunday. He never put a wheel wrong and he protected his lead thru the whole race, never over driving or taking risks. Of course that seems easy when you're hooked up. When you have Vettel as a teammate those kinds of opportunities are rare. It was good to see him take advantage of it and I imagine he will have lots of momentum heading to Monaco, where Webber has always been brilliant. We'll see ..

[jamsbong]

I like Vettel not only because he is fast but also the fact that he has a great personality. He is a great role-model for others to follow (young or old).

With regards to Lewis vs. Vettel at the first corner (lap 19). All I can say is that Hamilton had more balls to push Vettel to the side. He was more willing to push everyone else aside to get his way. Vettel chicken out, unfortunately. This is the one weakness that I think will stay with Vettel forever.

Vettel's other weakness is caring for the car. Like Kimi Raikonnen and Montoya in their younger days, Vettel just go flat-out 100% and many times, the car just don't last the Grand-Prix distance. This will change for him sooner if not later.

[samoth]

Hi, at first Vettel is not overrated, he is a first class driver, but mostly of todays f1 driver are very talented, best talented driver from the whole world. Schumacher need a little bit time and a better car, you will see he will drive in the second half of the season regulary in the top 4. He is a addicted for racing and will tireless working to do come on the top of the pops! It reminded me on his first year by Ferrari, nevertheless he make a 3,5 years break. This years are lightyears in F1 timetherms. Every which knows how f1 work could agree. Thomas

[Chaparral]

To be honest if you have a good car you have a shot at winning a race - Mark in his three wins to date has been dominant and I think that sets him apart to a degree - Im just glad he continues to win (and hopefully a couple more this season) as it hopefully shuts down the doubters of his talent - I looked at stats for him I think around the end of 2008 and he had 54% of his dnf's banked against mechanical faults - boy thats got to play heavily with your motivation but he has always been a positive guy

[marcush.]

Look ..
Schumacher was in his 5th race since ages and did a spot on overtaking pass in the one and only opportunity he had.From then on he protected this position against a car 10kmh quicker AND the best part of 1 second quicker per lap .Not many drivers around here who would have surrendered against Button with zero glitches.
and not to forget the pressure coming from .German and british media ..including Stirling Moss ,Jacky Stewart,Niki Lauda etc.etc... not many would not buckle under this.
The perception of a guy buckling under pressure is quite different.
back to Vettel...he is talented and he had optimum mentoring during his career .He is definitely a worthy champion but all in all Itend to believe Mark may be at a pivoting point of his career and with all the setbacks he has already overcome i almost believe he is the one to build up confidence now.

[BreezyRacer]

Vettel is going to have have to have that "not backing down" moment. In retrospect it was good that it wasn't in turn 1 Barcelona. RB needed the dominant finishes too much to throw it away. But soon he's going to have to draw that line in the sand (gravel trap?) that says "you get what you give", 'cause right now every top driver knows he can lean on Vettel. If Vettel is truly to be World Champ he HAS to obtain the upper hand.