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Agreed Chris. Vettel was great but Kimi was my drive of the day. Qualified well out of place due to the rain, then drove an ENTIRE lap (and its a long one) with a disintegrating rear tyre. Still managed to claw his way back up to 4th. Spectacular and shows the capability of the car. Had he qualified where he should have and had an uneventful race it could easily have been a ferrari 1-2. Looking forwards to some Vettel/Kimi action soon!Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriss
Why is it that nobody really takes to Vettel ?
He seems such a nice guy with a proper sense of F1 history and a very British sense of humour. Ruthless in the car, yes, but what (not-British ) World Driver's Champions aren't ?
Yet even the Germans don't really take to him and they can't even get as many spectators to a GP as we get to Qualifying !
Very strange.
Let's hope Kimi can beat him. He must have a good chance, after all, James Allison has designed exactly the kind of car that Kimi likes and did so well with at Lotus.
It probably also suits Vettel but on the right day, in equal cars and Kimi in the right mood. I reckon he might well be the quicker driver.
He was booed regularly with Red Bull and was cheered yesterday. I think being in a red car, especially if he wins in a red car, will completely rehabilitate his image. I asked a friend in Germany the same question last month, he said that Vettel is liked but not revered in the way MS was, and he thought it is primarily because MS was from a truly humble background (Dad a bricklayer) whereas SV is perceived to be more of a rich kid by people in Germany.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriss
Agreed, can't wait to see Kimi get a decent run and go head to head with SV. It was ten years ago but Suzuka 2005 popped into my mind yesterday. Kimi started 17th and won, and yesterday he came from the back to 4th. On his day (ie. when he is interested) he can be unbeatable. If the car is no good, he usually switches off.
It's just one race - let's see what the score is over the next few. Are Ferrari really contenders or did Mercedes get caught out. Who's to say Mercedes didn't let a Ferrari's 'catch up' this weekend - after Red Bull and Bernie making noises about making changes to 'equal' up the teams ...... Suddenly no more talk of Mercedes dominance and the prospect of a dull season ... Good PR ?
Is it true that Vettel exercised an exit clause in his red bull contract due to his championship finishing position. If so, has there been any press speculation he was considerably worse than Ricardo last year on purpose?
I've not seen any.
I think he went down massively in many people's estimations after the whole 'multi 21' saga in 2013. It's not that he overtook Webber when he was told not to, or even that Webber had apparently 'turned down' his car in response to the call so the overtake was more or less inevitable (allegedly). It was that he didn't question the decision to hold station after the final pit spot in the team briefing before the race but chose to ignore it when it turned out it disadvantaged him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriss
That said I actually think many people forget how he handled it when roles were reversed in 2011. Webber was told to hold station behind Vettel but ignored it and went for the place. Think he had fresher tyres or something because Webber was clearly the faster car but Vettel held him at bay till the flag. Thing is when asked about it Vettel didn't make any complaint, he more or less said they were racing, why shouldn't Mark try to pass? He said he found all the fuss about the incident "quite amusing".
Personally I don't mind the guy.
It is true and it was the same for Alonso, both were under contract to their respective 2014 teams for this year too, but championship positions allowed them to trigger those clauses.
Seb was not popular with fans, even German ones, long before the multi 21 episode. He seems to be regarded as not worthy of multiple world championships because of the perception that it was Adrian Newey's design rather than Seb's driving that was responsible. Yet he thoroughly trounced Webber who is no mean driver although the general view is that the double rear diffuser required a driving technique that Vettel excelled at but Webber couldn't quite master. This theory seems to have been proved last year when, without the DD, Vettel was made to look exceedingly ordinary by Daniel Ricciardo.
So, the jury is out as far as Vettel is concerned.
His move to Ferrari is looking to be every bit as opportune as Hamilton's going to Mercedes but to confirm the greatness that 4 x WDC should inspire, he needs to utterly thrash Kimi in the same car.
Somehow I don't think he is going to do that.
How I wish we could see one end of season race is which we could see all the top drivers compete in identical cars !
Not sure he needs to utterly thrash him tbh - Kimi is a world champion himself - but he probably needs to beat Kimi to give his critics very little reason to doubt his abilities. Kimi's drive from the back of the pack to 4th place with several fastest laps so far of the race was impressive, it's not going to be easy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriss
My impression is that Ferrari have a couple of very good drivers and finally have a car 'worthy' of the badge. About time! Not a massive Rosberg fan but I think his comment after the race said it all - "Game on!"