Alonso
Bottas
Vettel
Who knows, after the Mercedes boys its wide open...
Can anyone tell me why Alonso is so much faster in China?
Vettel seems to have found some speed too!
Looking forward to the race on Sunday or late Saturday night...

 

Hammy wins pole with the Red Bulls following.

Rosberg looked as if he was trying too hard and spun the car.

 

The rain definitely helped RBR. They don't call it "the great equalizer" for nothing!
The good news is tomorrow will be a dry race. Well, maybe not so good news for RBR.
Nico will be in P2 by the end of the first lap.
And as predicted, Ricciardo outqualified Vettel. Again.

I stand by my race prediction:
Hammy
Nico
Alonso

 

+1 on all counts

Got to say I am loving Ricciardo taking it to Vettel

 

Daniel Ricciardo beating me fair and square - Vettel
World champion Sebastian Vettel admits he is being beaten "fair and square" by his new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo so far this year.

The Australian has out-qualified the four-time champion three times in four races since replacing compatriot Mark Webber. Vettel said: "There's nothing between the cars so if he beats me he beats me fair and square. That's not to my liking. I know I have to do a little bit better." Vettel said he was struggling to come to terms with the 2014 Red Bull following this year's extensive rule changes. Vettel said: "This year is very, very different, the cars are different, you cannot compare last year to this year. "But nevertheless Daniel is doing a very good job. He has not had one good weekend, he has had good weekends. So far he seems to be able to get the maximum out of the car. "On my side, maybe I am struggling a bit more. "Maybe the car is not the way I like 100% but I am trying to work on that and for now if the result is like this I have to accept it."

The 26-year-old German won his four world championships with a car that benefited from what were known as exhaust-blown rear aerodynamics, where exhausts gases were used to increase rear grip. Red Bull were able to exploit this technology better than any other team and Vettel adapted his driving style to it better than Webber. But as part of a wide-ranging package of new rules this season, this feature of the cars has been removed. Vettel retired from the first race of the season in Australia, where Ricciardo finished second only to be disqualified after his car was found to have used too much fuel.
He was close behind Vettel in Malaysia before he himself retired and then beat him in Bahrain, where Ricciardo was fourth and Vettel sixth. Only in Malaysia has Vettel out-qualified his team-mate. Ricciardo said it was a "good day". "That was very pleasing to do it at the end," he said. "To be honest, I struggled a bit throughout the session, at least personally I didn't feel like I was getting on top of the conditions, but then the last set of intermediate [tyres] right at the end of Q3 we managed to get a bit more out of it and I put a good lap together. "So pretty pleased to be on the front row."

Both Red Bull drivers out-qualified Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who leads the championship. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton was on pole for the third time in four races. Ricciardo said Red Bull had "a good chance to at least stay up the pointy end" in Sunday's race, which is expected to be dry after a wet qualifying. But Vettel said they were unlikely to be able to beat the Mercedes drivers, who have a significant power advantage over the Renault-engined Red Bulls. "I would love some rain," Vettel said. "In wet conditions maybe the power is not that decisive. But all in all I think we have a strong package. "Maybe we have a little advantage on tyre life, we have to wait and see.

"Historically, Mercedes has been the strongest car also around this rack in dry conditions, looking after the fronts, so we will see where are.

"It would be a welcome surprise if we are better than them, but there is always the chance anything can happen so we need to be doing the best to take the advantage if there is one."

 

+1

 

I think this may be the wink at the camera that I projected on the first page of this thread. And jbossolo swoons...

 

Engineer: "Sebastian, let Riciardo through"
Vettel: "Tough luck"

Ha!!

 

Well after four races there are irrefutable facts:

1) No one will catch the Mercs this year
2) As a result of #1 it's Hamilton's championship to lose
3) Kimi is no match for Alonso
4) Vettel was a manufactured champion.

My opinion is that Alonso is the best race driver of the lot, followed by Hamilton, Hulkenberg and Riccardo (these last two can be interchanged).

At the end brother, the joke was on him...

 

Yeah I thought Kimi was supposed to show up at Ferrari and show FA how it's done. Anyone who wasn't washing Kimi's ***** knew this wasn't likely going to happen.

And secondly, what has happened to the perfect synchronicity of driver, team, and technology with Vettel and Red Bull? For 4 years, we have been preached to ad nauseum about the superior skills of Vettel both in and out of the cockpit. And now his teammate, who was previously a mid-pack driver, is embarrassing him. Vettel doesn't like the new car? Well, get over it and figure it out. That's what a superior driver champion would do.

"Ricciardo is faster than you" two races in a row. Wow.

 

Couldn't agree more on all counts.

 

It took Vettel a while to get dial the Red Bull in to his liking last time they made a big change. I wouldn't start writing eulogies about his career just yet. This season may be tough for him but let's wait to see where things are later this year. It's a long season.

 

I agree with all EXCEPT that Freddy is better than Hamilton. If one looks at 2007 the results are clear, Freddy is good but Lewis is better.

As for Vettel being manufactured, I just think his driving style suits a Newey designed car. But he has a lot of growing up to do. Webbo had to laugh at the tantrum Vettel threw.

 

And lauda takes credit
For ousting brawn


Even though these wins are directly correlated to him

 

Nico did well to recover from the poor start but was never going to catch Hammy who was gone from red lights out.

Vettel needs to mature some and accept his team mate is a serious challenge; get faster or move over.

I do like Kimi and hope he does better but so far Fred is showing him the way........here comes Europe next