ltc

Of course it's the car. Everyone else are just FAUX champions driving better cars for better teams with better strategies and better pit stops.

Vettel is quickly becoming like Kimi in the "massive attachments" category ... without the alcohol assist.

As he matures, he will only get better.

Oh, BTW, Good Morning Luca. Sleep well last night?

9.5 Degrees

I think that Texas rider nailed it. It's the entire Red Bull TEAM effort. Vettel is just the man to execute the strategy and we've seen time and time again that he's the man to do it vs. Webber who continues to show us that crashing others and himself are just a way of life for him.

Vettel has the slowest trap speed of all cars, but gets P1 in qualifying. Gears. Vettel needs good stops, he gets an unheard of 2.9 second stop in the pits by his crew. Vettel needs to pass Alonso and does so on the outside, in the grass and then pulls away before DRS is activated. The kid can drive and he's only going to get more dangerous for the rest of the field to deal with.

CORRETION: Alonso has the 5th best car on the grid behind both Red Bull cars and both McLarens, yet is in 2nd place in the WDC points. That should tell you something.

Astroman

I completely agree with your first 3 points.

However, I respectfully disagree regarding Schublocker. That was no way to "race" a fellow WDC. It does not require skill to do what MS did, nor does it deserve any admiration. I was embarrassed for him.

And yes I have been under pressure from faster cars and drivers (almost constantly, in fact ).

paradisenb

Jack, you may want to look at this from a slightly different perspective; MS made one double block move, not cool, but LH was timid yesterday. He has crashed out and made numerous mistakes this year and the thought of screwing up yet again made him too cautious. That, in turn, made the situation look that much worst. Lewis' has a much better car and should have shot right around the Mercedes (see Button) but he wasn't driving at his best yesterday. He has an aggressive style and, win or loose, he has to stick with his nature.

multi21

With all due respect Astroman, if MS allows Hamilton to just go by, you (and others) would call him a has been that never was and has no business out there. I greatly admire the fact he knew it was only a matter of time before he was passed by a much faster car and he was doing all he could to prevent that. He made his car wide (okay maybe on one occasion a little wider than he should), but damn it, it was enjoyable to watch the battle. Let's keep in mind that Hamilton also had the advantage of using DRS on MS at 2 parts of the track as well. A very commendable job to MS and both drivers for no contact OR more importantly no mistakes under late and heavy braking. Good stuff!

RajDatta

^^^^
Enough Said!

multi21

I thought Hamilton was going to take out Vettel on the run down to T1 when they interlocked wheels and touched. As we've witnessed this year, the cars are built very sturdy.... .like the tanks in my avatar... and they can take a hit and keep going.... Mark Webber excluded of course...... At least we're not talking about his bad standing start today...

gums

You make a good point there, Randi, but as I've said a thousand times before, I don't even like the one-move rule. What ever happened to "hold your line"?. I think tactics like Schublocker's are just atrocious and embarrasing.

As for Vettel, he impressed me with his growing professionalism in his post-race commentary. I think the kid is fantastic.

Astroman

I do agree with that, too. It didn't help. But part of that was because LH knew MS would crash them both out in a second.

I think the fact that big boss Brawn had to warn his blocker (er, driver) TWICE speaks for itself.

ltc

What does it tell you?
How many DNF's in 2011 has Alonso had compared to Button, Webber or Hamilton?
How would have last season looked if Vettel didn't have DNF's (mechanical and on track)?

How do you derive that he has the 5th fastest car on the grid?
How can such a determination be made, given the dynamic nature of in season car development?
In this regard, McLaren is in a league of their own, always seeming to improve the car during each season (partly due to their philiosophy of 2 design teams, combined with their massive R&D spending).
Before the summer break (and thanks to some FIA rules changes), the Ferrari appeared to be the equal to the RBR chassis. Would that have changed the status of the F150 Italia as "5th best car on the grid"

Making such statements is as useful and efficient as throwing some dirty clothes, detergent and a person having an epileptic seizure into a swimming pool and declaring it a washing machine.

ltc

Why are you agreeing with him when you typed the following 23 minutes AFTER his post:

2nd in Drivers Championship with 3rd best car on the grid all yr, Enough said!
The proof is in the pudding.

I can see dead people ... and deleted posts.

3rd best, 5th best, whatever it takes.

Meet you at the swimming pool, I'll bring the Wisk

multi21

That's call a DE..

Just like the stick and ball sports, there is offense and defense.

gums

And there's holding and clipping, rules against unfair play

multi21

Frank, your entitled to your opinion that you don't like the one move rule and you don't like schumacher, but MS and LH were battling lap after lap, miles after miles and he was within the rules with the exception of one time down the straight.

Sorry, but I admire the David vs. Goliath effort very much.

Eifeler

Great racing yesterday. SV holding his ground against LH and then passing FA (while mowing the lawn) proved he has both the will and skill to be P1. Except for the double block, Schu vs Hammy was fun to watch. How many times were they side by side?