How good is Vettel without a dominating car?

"Jesse Shaffer" (7esse) 10/14/2014 at 08:10 • Filed to: None

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There comes that point in an F1 driver's career where you start to desire enhancing your scrutiny of their apparent skill to scrutinizing how apparently skilled they really are. It comes around pretty consistently when the guy changes cars. In the case of Sebastian Vettel, F1 fans are undeniably questioning how much of this guy's success was his own and how much of it was Adrian Newey's.

It's no secret that shit conditions bring out the best of the best drivers. Wrestling something that you feel is a piece of garbage to the finish line is that much more rewarding than having a dominating car carry you there.

No person can deny that Sebastian Vettel lead a magnificent five years in his Red Bull stint up to and including the RB-9. Newey's RB-10 is still performing quite well, usually showing as the best-of-the-rest after the Stuttgart group gets across the line, but, the strange thing is that Daniel Riccardo seems to be following the Mercedes group more closely than the reigning champ. Why is that?

Personal driving style varies unlimited across different drivers. There are two main elements available for a racing driver to analyze in order to drive as quickly as possible.

A. Their ass

B. Their tires

That's really all you've got for communication with success in this business. The clutch, the power, the brakes, all of these things report to the tires, and the tires are what literally moves your ass. Everything in between the two has to become an extension of your body in order to get it right. You have to be able to roll on to your clutch and gear shifts as a reflex just as much as you have to be able to counter over-steer in the same way. It all has to be that fast and natural in order to compete at the top level.

Not every car can become bio-mechanical to every driver. Some drivers are crazy, some are more reserved. Some want a car that's fast and loose that they can vector as if on ice as apposed to tarmac. Some drivers want a car that's steady and precise that you can only wring-out in opportune moments. There are so many setups in-between and so many ways that different components and materials can affect the translation between the road surface and your bum that it starts to become clear that racing-cars are more like living things than inanimate objects. They move. That's a big part of why we love them. Sometimes, though, man and beast just can't get along.

Some of our favorite people drive some of our favorite racing cars. What drives these competitors is as fascinating as how they drive their cars. In the case of Sebastian Vettel, I get the feeling that he's driven by the motivation to dominate. Vettel doesn't want to feel like a winner, he wants to be a legend. Sort of like he used to be, sort of like Mercedes are feeling, now.

There is a lot that can happen during a race that is completely outside of a driver's control. A driver's psyche can sometimes require as much luck as he has skill just to keep him going. He is, in the end, hurtling himself around nearly as quickly as possible towards solid objects and trying to turn away from them as late as he dares while at the same time managing the time and space around his car in order to not smash in to a bunch of other fellas' trying to do the same thing. It makes sense for him to want as much available control as possible, especially in regard to which car he is driving.

I think Sebastian is a great competitor and, although admittedly not one of my favorite drivers, he is certainly going to be one to watch next year. Ferrari currently has two damned good drivers, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I don't know if the musical paychecks game of 2014 is going to bode any parties any better for 2015, but here's to everyone hoping.

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I'm just secretly hoping Raikkonen sticks around so that we can get more impressions out of Vettel.

xmarkedspot is Jesse Alan Shaffer, former Director of Information Technology and Network Analyst for Pittsburgh Technology Management, current broke-ass-starry-eyed-schmuch-trying-to-be-a-writer in NY, NY. @xmarkedspot

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Jesse Shaffer 10/14/2014 at 07:12

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Put Sebastian Vettel in a Marrusia, and he'll come last anyway.

*Jeremy Clarkson

asindhidude > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 10/14/2014 at 07:25

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put pastor in anything, including a gorilla costume, and you'll see a DNF

Leon711 > asindhidude 10/14/2014 at 07:34

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http://hasmaldonadocrashedtoday.com/

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Leon711 10/14/2014 at 07:50

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It's been 24 days. not bad.

Destructive Tester > Jesse Shaffer 10/14/2014 at 09:11

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I'm not a Vettel fan, but I think he's getting a disproportionate share of criticism for this season. Yes Ricciardo is faster but I really think it comes down to the inherent characteristics of the car not quite suiting his driving style or providing the type of feedback he needs. The thing to keep in mind with racing at this level is that the difference between 100% and 99.8% can be pretty stark and it doesn't take much to throw a driver off that much. Its possible Vettel just can't figure this year's tires out, if you recall last year he struggled (for him in the RB9) until the mid-season tire change...

Destructive Tester > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 10/14/2014 at 09:12

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"Reason: Maldonaderp" LOL

Jesse Shaffer > Destructive Tester 10/14/2014 at 09:17

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My thoughts, exactly

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Jesse Shaffer 10/14/2014 at 09:18

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It's important to remember that Vettel came from the car that was best using exhaust blown diffusers for the last few years and Ricciardo didn't. For Vettel, this car is a step down and missing grip on acceleration. For Ricciardo, it's a step up, so he can push it a little harder. I don't think that Vettel is the best driver on the grid (that goes to HAM and ALO in my opinion), but I don't think that he's just been coasting for four years due to a superior car. He's definitely a worthy champion.

ttyymmnn > Jesse Shaffer 10/14/2014 at 09:23

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Steve Matchett had an interesting theory during the coverage of the Japanese GP, just after the news broke of Vettel's leaving Red Bull. He wondered if Vettel wants to go to Ferrari to build it up into a champion again in the same way that his idol Schumacher did. It remains to be seen if he can emulate Schumi's success. Vettel is good, no doubt; I'm just not sure he's that good. I would think that a great driver would be able to make any car work, such as what Fernando is doing with the F14. He's not winning, but he's getting absolutely everything out of the car that the car is able to do.

Jesse Shaffer > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 10/14/2014 at 09:23

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I'd really love to feel the difference between the blown diffuser and the lack-there-of just to see what it actually produced in terms of aerodynamic advantage. Those RB cars were good on fast corners.

Jesse Shaffer > ttyymmnn 10/14/2014 at 09:25

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Schumacher/Vettel comparisons are going to saturate the pundits mouths for a while on this one. They'll praise him if he makes it work, they'll pity him coming in to Mclaren if he doesn't.

avens > Jesse Shaffer 10/14/2014 at 09:33

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As good as any other driver would be on his car. All 22 on the grid are among the best in the world.

We all know that in motorsports cars > differences between pro drivers, but in F1 in particular it's a 20 year old trend that teams win championships, not drivers. So, if you put Kobayashi in a current Mercedes he will win the championship.

Think about it: the last time an underdog won F1 race was back in 2008. Guess who was :P


The other thing people don't realize is that cars of a same scuderia are different between each other too. Actually the drivers have different teams assigned to them. This season Vettel got unlucky, whereas his team partner got the faster and way more reliable car.

avens > ttyymmnn 10/14/2014 at 09:35

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Just like with Schumi, it will take some years of car development -for which the drivers' feedback and involvement matters- and some cheating too :P

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Jesse Shaffer 10/14/2014 at 09:36

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Cars matter.

ttyymmnn > avens 10/14/2014 at 09:40

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I wonder if Seb can be that patient.

Jesse Shaffer > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 10/14/2014 at 09:42

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His facebook posts are, for some reason, making me thing he's retiring soon. I hope he doesn't leave the sport before McLaren gets their shit together or someone who already has it so hires him.

2BWise > Jesse Shaffer 10/14/2014 at 10:54

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There's some very interesting information in Niki Lauda's biography, "My Years at Ferrari" that I think are very applicable to Vettel in this situation. Lauda came up into Formula 1 and F3 being teamed up with Ronnie Peterson. Peterson was famous for being insanely fast, and while teamed up Lauda was nowhere near the pace that Peterson could manage. What he discovered though was that if he was allowed to make changes to the car, which were rare as Peterson was fast in the same equipment no matter the setup and had more experience, he could match Peterson's pace. Peterson could be fast in anything where Lauda need the car to suit him to be quick, and if you look thru history you can see these characteristics in various drivers. And not only various drivers but world champions as well. My opinion is that it is as simple as some drivers have the ability to adapt to any vehicle and make it go quick where others need the car to really match their strengths to get the most out of it. Vettel is one of these, but go thru the grid and you'll find there are lots of other drivers that are similar; Kimi, Massa, Button..... With the limited testing the drivers that can't quite find their setup and are suffering more than the others. If F1 went back to unlimited testing I think we'd see fewer guys suffering the fate of dominate one season to struggling the next.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Jesse Shaffer 10/15/2014 at 11:37

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Alonso said a few seasons ago that Lewis Hamilton was, "one of the only drivers that can get a good result with less the superior equipment." It was an obvious dig at Vettel's performance and the advantage Vettel enjoyed because of the car.

I think this season has proved him right.

MFEJAL grey because who knows... > asindhidude 10/15/2014 at 23:44

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Remember, that guy won a race, and several from the grid never won, even being "better" than our car-destroying friend.

Weapon10 > Jesse Shaffer 10/18/2014 at 09:46

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4 titles can't lie, regardless of the car. Webber was an amazing driver and he never won it. This car just doesn't suit Vettel for whatever reason, and the problem is magnified by superstar talent of his teammate - that nobody saw coming.

Weapon10 > MFEJAL grey because who knows... 10/18/2014 at 09:52

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only problem is that most drivers try to build on early success instead of acting like they're already world champions.

Jesse Shaffer > 2BWise 10/18/2014 at 10:03

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I like the shake-up that limited testing provides. You?

2BWise > Jesse Shaffer 10/18/2014 at 10:38

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I think limited testing is reasonable but I think F1 has gone too far. More in season testing should be available to the teams and private testing should be allowed as well

Jesse Shaffer > 2BWise 10/18/2014 at 10:51

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I agree that the down-side is that newer teams can't really make up the leaps and bounds that they need to overcome for a second of time in getting closer to the usual P3-session group. The only hope they have is for massive rule changes that everyone has to figure out. It's impossible to factor out the experience of the older groups, though.

cbckly962 > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 10/19/2014 at 14:58

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One has to remember that Toyota and Williams also had double diffusers, and Jenson had a miserable car in 2007-2008.

Tina Corbett > Leon711 10/23/2014 at 11:53

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That is freaking awesome. :-)

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > avens 10/24/2014 at 01:16

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idk if i agree. Schumi did pretty damn well with mediocre cars in the mid nineties.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > ttyymmnn 10/24/2014 at 09:38

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This is how I feel, I feel for every legend of F1 racing they all have at least a few seasons to their name where they did incredibly things with inferior cars, Vettel did not do that this year... from what I hear, I haven't been following this season that closely. But again, I feel he should be able to make any car, especially one from a premium manufacturer, work for him.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Jesse Shaffer 10/24/2014 at 09:46

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Haha and that's the last thing I am hoping for, I think the rules need to stay the same for like 5 seasons so cars/drivers/mfr's can be the best they can be within the current restrictions.

I do agree that the lesser teams should have a chance to make up some lost ground though.

Boiled Frog > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 10/31/2014 at 17:27

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The driver is the key to the team, development of the car depends on team effort, a driver is only as good as his car that his team put under him.

Nobody is on the throttle faster than Seb so his car was strong on the traction. Hamilton is the master of late braking, better suited to the harvest then brake system this year.

Alonzo wrings the most from his car because he NEEDS to, his development work with his team at Ferrari suffered. I cannot imagine how bad his relationship with his teammates at McLaren would be after selling them out so badly.

Boiled Frog > ttyymmnn 10/31/2014 at 17:37

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Car development is part of the job. Feedback to your engineers and mechanics to find speed is forward movement. If you don't move forward, you're moving back in F1.

Fernando is a master at taking a car, any car and raising it above what a mere mortal can do. Ferrari has not developed nearly as much speed as the competition, they're getting dusted by Williams. Kimi doesn't use a simulator, work that helps the engineers make the car faster, if it doesn't make him faster. I know not how 'Nando handles them.

We shall see if Seb can develop a new car, on a team that just finished upheaval and emerged committed stronger than ever to F1 excellence. If he flops or flips the Championship will be fun watching.

Boiled Frog > 2BWise 10/31/2014 at 17:39

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Friday should have at least two test sessions alternating with practice, it cannot be that difficult to schedule.