Is sebastian Vettel shooting himself in the foot?

[Need4speed]

In France, Vettel's committed his fifth major error in the last 12 months, namely Baku, Singapore, Mexico, Baku 2018 and France. With costly errors like that from one side and clean sheet from Lewis Hamilton from the other side, Are we witnessing Sebastian suicide?

[IulianFerrari]

In France, Vettel's committed his fifth major error in the last 12 months, namely Baku, Singapore, Mexico, Baku 2018 and France. With costly errors like that from one side and clean sheet from Lewis Hamilton from the other side, Are we witnessing Sebastian suicide?

What is this a tv soapopera? Lets not start to throw rocks just yet

[Rookie]

Really?!

[Need4speed]

What is this a tv soapopera? Lets not start to throw rocks just yet

When the differences between the rival cars is hardly 0.001 then mistakes are what can decide the title.
Last year three mistakes and we were out of WDC. This year is its two so far. For all the intended purposes we can not afford more.
In EPL, Sir Alex Ferguson knows that losing more than 6 matches will not give you a chance at winning the title. All what I am saying is that it is useful to know your limits when it comes to marginal errors.
I wish Seb and Kimi will shine with full glory in the next race.
Forza Ferrari:ferrarifl:ferrarifl:ferrarifl

[Vettel165]

I am a simple man, when I see a Ferrari driver bashing threat on a Ferrari forum I leave and dont ever come back at this topic. The only problem with it I see in Baku 2017, Singapore was racing and Verstappen started it, Mexico racing, Vettel was squezed into tight spot, nothing he could do, Baku 2018 he is a racer, he had to take a chance. France 2018, Mercedes blocked Seb and Bottas actually went around the outside agressive, with Vettel braking early, but find himself into dirty air. Its all racing. In reality they are all humans, and humans arent perfect they all make mistake. Hope we will be well in Austria and in next races, I will never stop believing.

[wisepie]

I am a simple man, when I see a Ferrari driver bashing threat on a Ferrari forum I leave and dont ever come back at this topic. The only problem with it I see in Baku 2017, Singapore was racing and Verstappen started it, Mexico racing, Vettel was squezed into tight spot, nothing he could do, Baku 2018 he is a racer, he had to take a chance. France 2018, Mercedes blocked Seb and Bottas actually went around the outside agressive, with Vettel braking early, but find himself into dirty air. Its all racing. In reality they are all humans, and humans arent perfect they all make mistake. Hope we will be well in Austria and in next races, I will never stop believing.

Agreed, the problem is that HAM rarely finds himself in that situation and doesn't have to try so hard to make questionable moves, we'd all be complaining if Seb didn't try, just as we complain when it all goes pear-shaped. We need a car to challenge the Mercs on a like-for-like basis, which we nearly have, but then Merc bring an up-graded engine, aero and other tweaks and we're on the back foot again. I hope I'm proved wrong and I can understand VET's frustrations, but we can't afford any more such errors of judgement so early in races.

[KimiBot]

I think Hamster did learn something, when he lost to Nico, he is not same bully anymore, every point is important.
But, I think we have superior car this year, and we can make some mistakes and still win everything, we will see.

[nani_s23]

I think Hamster did learn something, when he lost to Nico, he is not same bully anymore, every point is important.
But, I think we have superior car this year, and we can make some mistakes and still win everything, we will see.

Absolutely agree with you..!!
Ham playing smart, if he doesn’t have a good weekend then he’s focusing on avoiding mistakes n get max points.
When he has a car or weekend, then he’s dominating it.

[aroutis]

Let's start the infamous "Sack em all" thread...

[DelMar]

In France, Vettel's committed his fifth major error in the last 12 months, namely Baku, Singapore, Mexico, Baku 2018 and France. With costly errors like that from one side and clean sheet from Lewis Hamilton from the other side, Are we witnessing Sebastian suicide?
What I see a another bitter loser fan for the loser driver.

Clean sheet my ....
Bahrain where he got 5 secs penalty during SC pit inlap.
Baku this year,
Brasil last year where he wrecked his car in quali, started from the back with the fastest car.
And a bunch of races, where he was just slow compared to Bottas in those 15 months.

[T99]

In France, Vettel's committed his fifth major error in the last 12 months, namely Baku, Singapore, Mexico, Baku 2018 and France. With costly errors like that from one side and clean sheet from Lewis Hamilton from the other side, Are we witnessing Sebastian suicide?

This is a ridiculous statement, Ferrari hasn’t won a title in more than 10 years, they don’t have the fastest car at least not in the past 4 years they may be levelled this year, so the pressure is a lot higher for Seb and Ferrari to win so they have to risk more than the dominant Mercedes, it’s very easy to make less mistakes when you’re so dominant, there are some errors that happen because you’re racing and others that shouldn’t really happen like crashing out of qualifying like hamilton did last year in Brazil, I suppose you’re counting the tendency for hamilton completely disappearing during the whole weekend, where was he in Canada? Vettel is doing a good job just leave him alone

[Deephouse]

I remember when we were all praising him after Canada. Good times...

[FerrariF60]

I remember when we were all praising him after Canada. Good times...

Yeah, people tend to forget good times and good performance by Seb there....but when he makes a racing mistake everybody and their brother are up against him.....common

[chinmay]

In France, Vettel's committed his fifth major error in the last 12 months, namely Baku, Singapore, Mexico, Baku 2018 and France. With costly errors like that from one side and clean sheet from Lewis Hamilton from the other side, Are we witnessing Sebastian suicide?

Hey Hamilton fan, you should worry about Hamilton's poor qualifying performances since the start of the season, making mistake pretty much every weekend like lost 3 tenths on final lap in France due to mistake, lost front row in Monaco due to mistake, lost pole in Canada due to mistake, lost to Bottas in Bahrain and China due to mistake.

[Ed Harley]

Are we witnessing Sebastian suicide?
Too early to tell but we will see.

[mwk360]

Ferrari was definitely not the fastest car last year, we had a chance to match them up until the oil burning clamp down then after ferrari were usually on the back foot, at normal race tracks

[Tony]

I disagree with those that say Ferrari is not the fastest car this year... the car is capable of winning every race except the ones under the revised tyres formula...

[abbottcostello]

Won't even cast a vote on such foolishness!:lou

[racingbradley]

Come on let's all get behind our team and our drivers.
I'm sure Seb is his own worst critic!
Let's send them good vibes.
We are all rooting for them not wasting time criticising.
Go Ferrari :-D

[Brembo]

The driver who wins , 2nd , 3rd on the podium did great, that's enough proof, they get those points. WDC, WCC is what it's all about in F- Pirelli, oh.. and cool looking tires! Seb came to Ferrari a big time winner pole meant victory for him back @ his old barn. A tough act to follow. He went from Shumy Jr. to just Vettle, leave him race and let's see how it goes.

[wisepie]

Come on let's all get behind our team and our drivers.
I'm sure Seb is his own worst critic!
Let's send them good vibes.
We are all rooting for them not wasting time criticising.
Go Ferrari :-D

Very up-beat of you, racingbradley, and I agree wholeheartedly, we all want the same result but sometimes a little criticism gets it off our chests when our races are ruined early in the proceedings!;-)

[Bonecrasher]

Hey Hamilton fan, you should worry about Hamilton's poor qualifying performances since the start of the season, making mistake pretty much every weekend like lost 3 tenths on final lap in France due to mistake, lost front row in Monaco due to mistake, lost pole in Canada due to mistake, lost to Bottas in Bahrain and China due to mistake.

And yet Ferrari can’t beat such a rubbish driver. What does that say about Ferrari?

[Brembo]

And yet Ferrari can’t beat such a rubbish driver. What does that say about Ferrari?

What it says is Seb not Kimi needs to go!

[Deephouse]

You cant deny though. Vettel can put in some fantastic recovery drives.

[Brembo]

You cant deny though. Vettel can put in some fantastic recovery drives.

The trick is not to be in recovery mode. Pole and 2 sec. up front like before he came to Ferrari ! There's still hope for sure.

[Sanomas]

It's good to see the Ferrari team in top of construction championship for now... and that Vettel is leading too, it he want to be a champion he just needs to keep it up! :-)

[Tifoso]

No.

[IulianFerrari]

Surely this thread should be closed by now

[Otakukim]

Surely this thread should be closed by now

This thread will become active again if/when he makes a mistake

[racingbradley]

This thread will become active again if/when he makes a mistake

Poor Seb he wants both championships even more than we do.
He wants to emulate his role model, Michael.
I'm sure he feels sick every time he makes a mistake but he will never win sitting behind Mercs and RBs. He took a chance on the overtake of Bottas on Sunday and it worked................of course it could have failed but he had to try! Some you win some you lose. ;-)

[Brembo]

Well said !! There's more to racing than following orders, and what if , not taking a chance. Racing "Passing the other driver" !!

[ScuderiaBuckeye]

He is making a critical error costing him points every 3.6 races at this pace, so he's due for about 3 more before the season ends.

[Brembo]

He is making a critical error costing him points every 3.6 races at this pace, so he's due for about 3 more before the season ends.

There was a time before Ferrari, where mainly the car and what skill he had took him to WDC. I think being up front in them days cost him the much needed experience in the crowd of 6 to 10 racing to get up front. Even with his great understanding team mate Kimi moving over etc. he has big time error probs. Max for ex. went from the crash king at this forum to , well look at how he's doing now. Dan's #1 enemy! :rotfl and top 4 his home for him. I feel bad for him getting beat in Germany but I above all am interested in WCC for Ferrari. Maybe he should be letting Kimi pass? And the best car to KImi, even give him a real engine!:rotfl There's still WCC time for sure. Meanwhile Lewis from 14 to 1st. in a not so easy race, well he's not Ferrari but that was some good driving. What nerve him feeling good about it !!

[chinmay]

There was a time before Ferrari, where mainly the car and what skill he had took him to WDC. I think being up front in them days cost him the much needed experience in the crowd of 6 to 10 racing to get up front. Even with his great understanding team mate Kimi moving over etc. he has big time error probs. Max for ex. went from the crash king at this forum to , well look at how he's doing now. Dan's #1 enemy! :rotfl and top 4 his home for him. I feel bad for him getting beat in Germany but I above all am interested in WCC for Ferrari. Maybe he should be letting Kimi pass? And the best car to KImi, even give him a real engine!:rotfl There's still WCC time for sure. Meanwhile Lewis from 14 to 1st. in a not so easy race, well he's not Ferrari but that was some good driving. What nerve him feeling good about it !!

And who exactly did Hamilton overtake? Ricciardo retired, Verstappen was 1 minute behind due to wrong wet tyre stop, Vettel crashed, Bottas and Kimi pitted so they came behind. Yeah, Hamilton had to overtake no top driver on track just like Silverstone.

[wisepie]

And who exactly did Hamilton overtake? Ricciardo retired, Verstappen was 1 minute behind due to wrong wet tyre stop, Vettel crashed, Bottas and Kimi pitted so they came behind. Yeah, Hamilton had to overtake no top driver on track just like Silverstone.

This seems to be one of the biggest factors in HAM always coming good as regards points finishes, he always gains from external circumstances. OK so he has had one DNF this year, but apart from that he's been lucky to be in the right place to extract the maximum result. It still makes me cringe when he gets all the plaudits if he has to 'fight' from behind, when most of those he's passing are in inferior cars. Unfortunately Seb has had to fight much harder and maybe take more risks because he doesn't always have his team-mate as rear-gunner, but at this stage in his career I do think he needs to maintain a calmer approach. Frustration is a horrible motivation and leads to all sorts of emotions in the cockpit, and as he was stuck behind a slower Kimi in Germany, he had to regain the momentum to distance himself from the chasing HAM and BOT, knowing that his tyres were the least likely to be optimal. He therefore overdid it and we know the sad result.:-E

[Nick Singer]

This seems to be one of the biggest factors in HAM always coming good as regards points finishes, he always gains from external circumstances. OK so he has had one DNF this year, but apart from that he's been lucky to be in the right place to extract the maximum result. It still makes me cringe when he gets all the plaudits if he has to 'fight' from behind, when most of those he's passing are in inferior cars. Unfortunately Seb has had to fight much harder and maybe take more risks because he doesn't always have his team-mate as rear-gunner, but at this stage in his career I do think he needs to maintain a calmer approach. Frustration is a horrible motivation and leads to all sorts of emotions in the cockpit, and as he was stuck behind a slower Kimi in Germany, he had to regain the momentum to distance himself from the chasing HAM and BOT, knowing that his tyres were the least likely to be optimal. He therefore overdid it and we know the sad result.:-E

Well said.

[Brembo]

And who exactly did Hamilton overtake? Ricciardo retired, Verstappen was 1 minute behind due to wrong wet tyre stop, Vettel crashed, Bottas and Kimi pitted so they came behind. Yeah, Hamilton had to overtake no top driver on track just like Silverstone.

With all that goings on you mention, why didn't someone else win? Lewis overtook whoever he had to , however he had to and almost won!!!! No wait! I think he did win! I wish it was Kimi but there's still races to go. Seb needs to stop crashing! Max stopped ! Leave the crashing to the expert Grosejean!

[Stormy]

Seb can get a little reckless and those little mistakes that happen once a time hurt us, it's true. We should all state the obvious. However, he can also perform perfectly and deliver some awesome drives and overtakes, that's true as well. I still rate him top 3 on the grid. I just can't rate him de facto number 1.

[racingbradley]

However, he can also perform perfectly and deliver some awesome drives and overtakes, that's true as well. I still rate him top 3 on the grid. I just can't rate him de facto number 1.

He has 4 WDCs all fought for by Alonso, Ham, Button & his team mate which kinda proves he pretty good.

When his daring moves work they are sensational but of course when they don't they are devastatingly bad.
I hope Seb can put all his skill to good use this weekend and dedicate the race to Marchionne. :-D

[chinmay]

Seb can get a little reckless and those little mistakes that happen once a time hurt us, it's true. We should all state the obvious. However, he can also perform perfectly and deliver some awesome drives and overtakes, that's true as well. I still rate him top 3 on the grid. I just can't rate him de facto number 1.

If not Seb, then who is your #1? Lewis who can't win in the best car of 2012 - McLaren Mercedes? McLaren Mercedes was also the best car in latter part of 2011, he was still destroyed by Vettel. This is what McLaren's McGrath said in early 2012:

McGrath added that beating qualifying master Sebastian Vettel will be crucial if McLaren is to be successful in 2012, particularly as its analysis indicated that the raw pace of last year's MP4-26 was superior towards the end of the season despite Red Bull and Vettel's run of poles.


He must be a brilliant driver, because by the end of last season we definitely had the best car and he[Vettel] was still whupping us," McGrath said. "We're trying to figure out exactly what he's doing that's so good. How does he pull out that fast qualifying lap every time? We think it's driver skill. There's no trickery on the cars, he just gets more out of it than we do.

[Brembo]

It's 2018!!

[chinmay]

It's 2018!!

And Vettel is still the same, the king of qualifying and race management.

[Brembo]

And Vettel is still the same, the king of qualifying and race management.

76 poles makes a driver king of quali. King of race management is the driver who comes from waay behind and manages to win the race. Ferrari needs to install a " LUCK" button on the steering wheel just like Merc has !!:rotfl

[chinmay]

76 poles makes a driver king of quali. King of race management is the driver who comes from waay behind and manages to win the race. Ferrari needs to install a " LUCK" button on the steering wheel just like Merc has !!:rotfl

With the car he drove since his debut and especially the past 4 years when he only had to beat his teammate in qualifying, I would say he should have reached 100 poles already. Even Rosberg managed 40 poles in that Merc. Now that Bottas is performing well, you can see Hamilton is unable to outperform him on Saturday, the average qualifying gap between them was like 0.04 or something like that, after Germany it might well have been reversed.

A true qualifier is the one who can get poles multiple times with not the fastest car, Vettel has achieved that multiple times, Hamilton probably has never done that. But you should continue to post such comments, it provides a good comedy to us users. After all, a good laugh is good for health. :rotfl

[Brembo]

Very true , Vettel was driving a bomb back in the RB day ,he had to get out and push that car to the get all those poles; and wins. Do you really believe Vettel's Ferrari is so inferior to Merc? Check it out, that ain't true, Ferrari no matter what you think has a great car that will do WCC as long as Seb can avoid costly mistakes. Here you are saying Lewis should have 100 poles, he's so good. Give him time and your wish may come true! And weather you want to admit it or not Kimi is way better than Bottas even with team orders up the nose!

[chinmay]

Very true , Vettel was driving a bomb back in the RB day ,he had to get out and push that car to the get all those poles; and wins. Do you really believe Vettel's Ferrari is so inferior to Merc? Check it out, that ain't true, Ferrari no matter what you think has a great car that will do WCC as long as Seb can avoid costly mistakes. Here you are saying Lewis should have 100 poles, he's so good. Give him time and your wish may come true! And weather you want to admit it or not Kimi is way better than Bottas even with team orders up the nose!

Who said SF71-H isn't a great car? Vettel's Red Bull was nowhere near the Mercedes of past 4 years, even McLaren said in early 2012 that they had the best car but Vettel was making all the difference in the world. Vettel got 9 consecutive victories in 2013, second best in history is 7 consecutive wins. Mercedes of the past 4 years were the most dominant cars in the history of Formula 1 so the driver you support(Hamilton) should have beaten Vettel's record of 9 consecutive victories but he coudn't. Hamilton isn't as good as you think he is. Statistically, Red Bull didn't enjoy the same gap over rivals in 2013 as they did in other years.

https://www.racefans.net/2014/12/12/mercedes-2014-dominance-outstripped-red-bulls-2010-3/

Red Bull knows how big an asset Vettel was which is why both Marko and Horner consider Vettel as one of the greatest of all times, at par with Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher. Even now, Marko has said that Ferrari's resurgence has got quite a lot to do with Vettel's input. Everyone is praising Arrivabene, Mattia Binotto, Sergio Marchionne, Ferrari engineers but I haven't seen many praising Vettel but those who worked with him know what he's capable of. Webber said in 2016 that Vettel like a juggernaut will bring Ferrari back to title contenders. You just need to look at the trend, Vettel went to Toro Rosso and made them winners in treacherous wet conditions as a rookie. Went to Red Bull and made them champions, went to Ferrari and now Ferrari has produced the best car since 2008. In case of Hamilton, only opposite has happened, made debut in title capable car, went to Mercedes in 2013 when all preparations for 2014 had already been done, the seed of Mercedes dominance was sown in 2011 as per Ross Brawn.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/features/2015/12/f1-dream-team.html

I said Hamilton should have got to 100 poles already till the end of 2017, his cars since 2007 were that good. Of course Kimi is better than Bottas, Kimi has a narrow window but when he is in it, he can be as fast as anyone out there at least on Saturday. The problem with Kimi is his consistency, this year he started performing only when Leclerc to Ferrari rumor was going strong. We'll see whether or not he can continue his strong form of recent races into the second half.

Weakness of Kimi is his overtaking abilities, he just doesn't go for it. He would sit behind for many laps and will attempt for overtake rarely. But if Kimi can continue his strong form then sure Ferrari can win WCC.

[Brembo]

Who said SF71-H isn't a great car? Vettel's Red Bull was nowhere near the Mercedes of past 4 years, even McLaren said in early 2012 that they had the best car but Vettel was making all the difference in the world. Vettel got 9 consecutive victories in 2013, second best in history is 7 consecutive wins. Mercedes of the past 4 years were the most dominant cars in the history of Formula 1 so the driver you support(Hamilton) should have beaten Vettel's record of 9 consecutive victories but he coudn't. Hamilton isn't as good as you think he is. Statistically, Red Bull didn't enjoy the same gap over rivals in 2013 as they did in other years.

https://www.racefans.net/2014/12/12/mercedes-2014-dominance-outstripped-red-bulls-2010-3/

Red Bull knows how big an asset Vettel was which is why both Marko and Horner consider Vettel as one of the greatest of all times, at par with Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher. Even now, Marko has said that Ferrari's resurgence has got quite a lot to do with Vettel's input. Everyone is praising Arrivabene, Mattia Binotto, Sergio Marchionne, Ferrari engineers but I haven't seen many praising Vettel but those who worked with him know what he's capable of. Webber said in 2016 that Vettel like a juggernaut will bring Ferrari back to title contenders. You just need to look at the trend, Vettel went to Toro Rosso and made them winners in treacherous wet conditions as a rookie. Went to Red Bull and made them champions, went to Ferrari and now Ferrari has produced the best car since 2008. In case of Hamilton, only opposite has happened, made debut in title capable car, went to Mercedes in 2013 when all preparations for 2014 had already been done, the seed of Mercedes dominance was sown in 2011 as per Ross Brawn.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/features/2015/12/f1-dream-team.html

I said Hamilton should have got to 100 poles already till the end of 2017, his cars since 2007 were that good. Of course Kimi is better than Bottas, Kimi has a narrow window but when he is in it, he can be as fast as anyone out there at least on Saturday. The problem with Kimi is his consistency, this year he started performing only when Leclerc to Ferrari rumor was going strong. We'll see whether or not he can continue his strong form of recent races into the second half.

Weakness of Kimi is his overtaking abilities, he just doesn't go for it. He would sit behind for many laps and will attempt for overtake rarely. But if Kimi can continue his strong form then sure Ferrari can win WCC.

[mwk360]

Is sebastian Vettel shooting himself in the foot?

Not really tbh, unless he has the powers to control the weather,vsc,sc, strategy and pitstops then maybe

[chinmay]

Is sebastian Vettel shooting himself in the foot?

Not really tbh, unless he has the powers to control the weather,vsc,sc, strategy and pitstops then maybe

They said replace Vettel with Ricciardo or Alonso so maybe Ricciardo and Alonso have powers to switch weathers, they can summon VSC or SC at will, they make the strategy and calls. The only advantage Vettel has over Ricciardo or Alonso or any other driver is that he can qualify faster and race better than them, he unfortunately isn't skilled enough to change weather, summon safety cars etc.. For sure Vettel is shooting in the foot by lacking these powers.

[mwk360]

They said replace Vettel with Ricciardo or Alonso so maybe Ricciardo and Alonso have powers to switch weathers, they can summon VSC or SC at will, they make the strategy and calls. The only advantage Vettel has over Ricciardo or Alonso or any other driver is that he can qualify faster and race better than them, he unfortunately isn't skilled enough to change weather, summon safety cars etc.. For sure Vettel is shooting in the foot by lacking these powers.

agreed, but hey vettel makes more mistakes than hamilton and alonso he should'v left it sunny for qualifying what was he thinking, he brought out the vsc wrong time at baku too. silly mistakes, pitting too late at today's race after traffic cost him 3seconds another vettel mistake why didnt he change his tyres himself like Xnda

[vecchiasignora]

I like to see Alonso - Vettel paired together next year.

[DelMar]

They said replace Vettel with Ricciardo or Alonso so maybe Ricciardo and Alonso have powers to switch weathers, they can summon VSC or SC at will, they make the strategy and calls. The only advantage Vettel has over Ricciardo or Alonso or any other driver is that he can qualify faster and race better than them, he unfortunately isn't skilled enough to change weather, summon safety cars etc.. For sure Vettel is shooting in the foot by lacking these powers.
Verstappen is destroying Ricciardo. When he does not have a car issue, he with very high percentage beats Ricciardo.
If there is a driver to get to Ferrari, it is him.

[chinmay]

Verstappen is destroying Ricciardo. When he does not have a car issue, he with very high percentage beats Ricciardo.
If there a driver to get to Ferrari, it is him.

Oh yes, just because of 2014, Ricciardo overrates himself too much. He thought he was better than Vettel. Even before Race of Champions 2015, he said he wanted redemption by beating Vettel again to prove that he is actually faster than Vettel but Vettel beat him by over half a second lol. Kvyat beat Ricciardo in 2015, he wasn't great before 2014 as well.

There is another reason for Ricciardo's hype - before 2014, no driver had ever beaten Vettel over the course of a season and even till now, 2014 was the only year where Vettel's teammate scored more points than him. After Vettel's 9 consecutive wins in 2013, it was considered a miracle if anyone could beat him and Ricciardo scored more points so he was considered the next big thing but that hype train is quickly derailing and people are realizing that Ricciardo was never a world champion material.

[WRX202]

Oh yes, just because of 2014, Ricciardo overrates himself too much. He thought he was better than Vettel. Even before Race of Champions 2015, he said he wanted redemption by beating Vettel again to prove that he is actually faster than Vettel but Vettel beat him by over half a second lol. Kvyat beat Ricciardo in 2015, he wasn't great before 2014 as well.

There is another reason for Ricciardo's hype - before 2014, no driver had ever beaten Vettel over the course of a season and even till now, 2014 was the only year where Vettel's teammate scored more points than him. After Vettel's 9 consecutive wins in 2013, it was considered a miracle if anyone could beat him and Ricciardo scored more points so he was considered the next big thing but that hype train is quickly derailing and people are realizing that Ricciardo was never a world champion material.

Ricciardo is not over rated at all. There are politics in F1 and they're the cause of certain issues. Picture this: Ricciardo is on the hunt for a seat in 2019, RedBull want to extend and make their offer, Now what would be the best way to get a pretty good driver for cheap? Having his team mate beat him on points, making him look as an average driver to other teams so he cannot bargain much. RedBull are quite sly when it comes to bargaining and it goes for everything. Engines, drivers, Engineers and so on. Verstappen is young and gutsy, he came cheap and now is starting to fatten his pay cheques so eventually he'll get the same. Vettel was getting demotivated and Riccardo did better than him during their last year together.

The only person in RB that has priceless value is Adrian Newey as RB know too well that thanks to his Aero masterpieces even with an inferior PU they can still win. Had Newey joined Merc or Ferrari they would be unstoppable with their current engines.

Daniel is a good driver, plans over takings ahead imo even better than Lewis as LH relies on his "you can't touch me coz I am god" status when he dives in. The only one that is on par or slightly better is Alonso but the man is a train wrecking machine in every team he joins with the instability he brings inside the organisation.

As much as I would like to see Vettel win this year I fear he lacks the killer instinct. I'm actually surprised he is taking risks lately for once.

[chinmay]

Ricciardo is not over rated at all. There are politics in F1 and they're the cause of certain issues. Picture this: Ricciardo is on the hunt for a seat in 2019, RedBull want to extend and make their offer, Now what would be the best way to get a pretty good driver for cheap? Having his team mate beat him on points, making him look as an average driver to other teams so he cannot bargain much. RedBull are quite sly when it comes to bargaining and it goes for everything. Engines, drivers, Engineers and so on. Verstappen is young and gutsy, he came cheap and now is starting to fatten his pay cheques so eventually he'll get the same. Vettel was getting demotivated and Riccardo did better than him during their last year together.

The only person in RB that has priceless value is Adrian Newey as RB know too well that thanks to his Aero masterpieces even with an inferior PU they can still win. Had Newey joined Merc or Ferrari they would be unstoppable with their current engines.

Daniel is a good driver, plans over takings ahead imo even better than Lewis as LH relies on his "you can't touch me coz I am god" status when he dives in. The only one that is on par or slightly better is Alonso but the man is a train wrecking machine in every team he joins with the instability he brings inside the organisation.

As much as I would like to see Vettel win this year I fear he lacks the killer instinct. I'm actually surprised he is taking risks lately for once.

Vettel lacks the killer instinct? That's a new thing, Hamilton, Alonso, Ricciardo all lack in one field or another but I don't see Vettel inferior in any of the departments from qualifying, race management, team builder, technical input etc... Verstappen I think has shown Vettel esque qualities from time to time. A couple more years and we'll see what Leclerc has to offer as he looks very promising.

[WRX202]

Vettel lacks the killer instinct? That's a new thing, Hamilton, Alonso, Ricciardo all lack in one field or another but I don't see Vettel inferior in any of the departments from qualifying, race management, team builder, technical input etc... Verstappen I think has shown Vettel esque qualities from time to time. A couple more years and we'll see what Leclerc has to offer as he looks very promising.

There's a difference between diving in a-la-Maldonado/Verstappen and overtaking Ricciardo/Alonso style, that is what I mean with "killer instinct", no one is questioning his quick lap qualifying qualities and he has improved a lot over the last year when it comes to managing pressure and frustration. Vettel was the type that stays far too long behind other cars ruining his tyres and even flat spotting them if the defending driver late brakes him (which Bottas thinks he is great at but sucks! hence the contact in Hungary with SV and DR). That extra bit of grip and power is giving Vettel more confidence this year.

As for Leclerc I was all in favour of seeing him in the Red car next year until I watched his performance in the last 2 races. He didn't look that good in the wet whereas Kimi was shining + considering that Alfa have the Ferrari EVO3 spec engine I was a bit let down with their performance in Hungary.

[chinmay]

There's a difference between diving in a-la-Maldonado/Verstappen and overtaking Ricciardo/Alonso style, that is what I mean with "killer instinct", no one is questioning his quick lap qualifying qualities and he has improved a lot over the last year when it comes to managing pressure and frustration. Vettel was the type that stays far too long behind other cars ruining his tyres and even flat spotting them if the defending driver late brakes him (which Bottas thinks he is great at but sucks! hence the contact in Hungary with SV and DR). That extra bit of grip and power is giving Vettel more confidence this year.

As for Leclerc I was all in favour of seeing him in the Red car next year until I watched his performance in the last 2 races. He didn't look that good in the wet whereas Kimi was shining + considering that Alfa have the Ferrari EVO3 spec engine I was a bit let down with their performance in Hungary.

I think they weren't running Spec 3 to full power just like how Ferrari did the same in Canada, only since Austria, did Ferrari was gaining immense laptime on straights. I believe Ferrari is in good shape for Spa and then maybe can unleash the power of Spec 3 fully in home race. That would be quite good.

[WRX202]

I think they weren't running Spec 3 to full power just like how Ferrari did the same in Canada, only since Austria, did Ferrari was gaining immense laptime on straights. I believe Ferrari is in good shape for Spa and then maybe can unleash the power of Spec 3 fully in home race. That would be quite good.

Only HAAS and AlfaRomeo Sauber had EVO3 spec, Ferrari was running previous spec. In other words if they were gaining so much in the straight with EVO2 let's hope they dominate with EVO3 as from next race ;) Monza is very important for the tifosi and SPA is a power circuit too.

[jgonzalesm6]

Only HAAS and AlfaRomeo Sauber had EVO3 spec, Ferrari was running previous spec. In other words if they were gaining so much in the straight with EVO2 let's hope they dominate with EVO3 as from next race ;) Monza is very important for the tifosi and SPA is a power circuit too.

Ferrari are testing today with Force India, Williams, Mercedes, STR. So under testing rules if a car blows an engine during testing, it does'nt count towards the component allocaton allotment or no penalties.

They (any team) can blow as many engines as they want and it won't count against them.

Ferrari are probably testing the Spec 3 engine right now with GIO in the car....I would......food for thought.

[wisepie]

Ferrari are testing today with Force India, Williams, Mercedes, STR. So under testing rules if a car blows an engine during testing, it does'nt count towards the component allocaton allotment or no penalties.

They (any team) can blow as many engines as they want and it won't count against them.

Ferrari are probably testing the Spec 3 engine right now with GIO in the car....I would......food for thought.

Whatever engine Antonio was using today in testing, it was a strong one and the boy did good! Fastest and new lap record too.:thumb

[jgonzalesm6]

Whatever engine Antonio was using today in testing, it was a strong one and the boy did good! Fastest and new lap record too.:thumb


The results look promising. I would point out 2 things: 1.) I don't think the hypersoft tire was avaliable during quali 2.) It is the fastest lap but I don't think its official???? Can someone say otherwise being it is testing???

[Greig]

Testing won't count as official record, car could be underweight etc

[T99]

The results look promising. I would point out 2 things: 1.) I don't think the hypersoft tire was avaliable during quali 2.) It is the fastest lap but I don't think its official???? Can someone say otherwise being it is testing???

Correct, the tyres available for the race weekend were only the ultrasoft there were no hypersofts, so it definitely makes a difference..