Vettel: Alonso is “complete”, Hamilton “quick” and Schumacher’s “still got it”

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel offers his views on his top F1 rivals.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Vettel lauds Hamilton and Alonso (BBC)

“The ones that stand out are probably Fernando [Alonso], he’s one of the most complete drivers. Lewis [Hamilton] is very, very quick. There are plenty of others. Michael [Schumacher] is still in the game. I don’t think he has lost it.”

Hamilton set to shine – with Olympic torch run (Reuters)

“Hamilton was invited to carry the torch through Stevenage, the commuter town 50km north of London where he was born and grew up, but one glance at the race calendar made that a non-starter. The 27-year-old has his hands otherwise engaged when the flame is in town around lunchtime on Sunday – just before the start of a race he has every hope of winning – so it will have to be Monday instead at another location.”

F1 Fanatic via Twitter

“I wonder if Jenson Button has been invited to carry the Olympic flame? Given his triathlon prowess it would make sense.”

John Iley via Twitter

“English ‘summer’ conspiring against our aerodynamic test today, I would take a picture, but it’s too depressing…”

Cost-cutting deal ‘vital’ for F1’s future (Autosport)

Norbert Haug: “This is vital to the future of Formula 1. It cannot just be a spending competition. Look at us; we spent three times in 2005 in F1 what we did in 2010. Be it engine, aero or whatever; reducing the costs is vital for the future of F1.”

Deadlines… (Joe Saward)

“If more than half the teams would like to have the FIA policing a Resource Restriction Agreement, thus making it part of the regulations, a situation which would help to stop teams breaching the agreement, then that would be possible in the current hiatus. This may not please the big spenders but it is likely to be rather more effective than a gentleman’s agreement.”

Evolution of the F1 Car (Ruf Blacklock via Vimeo)

Anger Management, by Mark Gallagher (F1Enigma’s Insider Notebook)

“[Jean-Eric] Vergne’s mistake was compounded by his initial statement that the accident was not his fault; a view not shared by the Stewards, the team, his colleagues at Red Bull, the media or anyone watching the European Grand Prix on television. Fortunately he later apologised to [Heikki] Kovalainen.”

German GP charity fundraising screening (Badger GP)

A live screening of the German Grand Prix in London with proceeds going towards the ‘ride2spa’ fundraising effort which supports five charities.

Comment of the day

Steven welcomes Pirelli’s plan to test harder tyres:

This is exactly what I have been wishing that they’d improve with the tyres.

I don’t mind the high (and sometimes unpredictable) wear of the tyres, as this provides a lot of entertainment with the frequent pit stops and end of the race dramas of choosing between staying out and risking of losing pace very suddenly or doing another stop and risking loss of track position in return for vastly superior speed.

But the narrow working window has made the start of this season (and the start of the last one as well) into a lottery of stumbling upon a working setup of the car with virtually no way of replicating it on the next day or in the next race.
Steven

Have your say on F1’s tyres here:

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Troma!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Today in 1982 Didier Pironi bounced back from the trauma of the Canadian Grand Prix, where he was involved in the accident which killed Riccardo Paletti, to win comfortably for Ferrari at Zandvoort.

Canada winner Nelson Piquet finished 21 seconds back with Keke Rosberg close behind.

Rene Arnoux suffered a major crash at Tarzan when his suspension failed.

Here’s Pironi passing Arnoux’s team mate Alain Prost for the lead of the race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL4Yv7bhaAs

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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54 comments on “Vettel: Alonso is “complete”, Hamilton “quick” and Schumacher’s “still got it””

  1. I really want to now carry the torch now! :'(

  2. That evolution of an F1 car video is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Brilliant.

    1. @rumfresh Couldn’t agree more. Epic video. Very, very interesting.

      1. I guess this is the evolution of the rules and regulations over the years. It looks as though they can’t make up their mind – it’s all over the place. But many of the changes were made due to safety, otherwise the early 1970’s design probably looks the best, followed by late 80’s (89 in particular) and early 00’s. Todays design looks the worst (except for the McLaren).

    2. @rumfresh Yep. It’s really well put together and quite fascinating to watch ideas come and go.

    3. The amount of radical and fundamental changes that have occurred from 1955-1990 in particular is remarkable. I assume these are the cars that won the championship in each year?

    4. I had a chat with the maker on Reddit, was really curious about the morphing effect he put together.

      More pics and stuff here.

      http://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/vvjc7/my_little_f1_pet_project_evolution_of_the_f1_car/

  3. At 0:40 in the last video, if I’m not wrong, Pironi opens DRS on yellow flags….

    1. Aditya Banerjee (@)
      5th July 2012, 5:56

      LOL +1…

  4. @keithcollantine Keith, I am a little confused by Norbert Haugs statement, it seems he is saying that MercedesGP, in 2005 spent 3 times as much as they did in 2010 which would suggest that the RRA was working satisfactorilly but the tone of the article suggests that Norbert is not happy with the current RRA, could this be a problem in confusing German and English grammar and it is meant to read Mercedes GP spent 3 times as much in 2010 as in 2005 which would seem likely as in 2005 Mercedes were an engine supplier only ( If I remember rightly) whereas in 2010 they became a full team and constructor.

    1. Did they freeze engine development by 2005?

      I bet 1999 was expensive for them, that revolutionary light weight engine ate some of the money :)

      1. I think he wants to say that they spend 3 times as much in 2010, than they did in 2005.

    2. And as I remember, often Kimi didn’t start from his actual qualifying position due to change of engine in 2005.

    3. @hohum – The teams are unhappy with the RRA, because even when it works, it still requires everyone to take each other at their word. Given that the teams are pre-disposed to going over the techncial regulations with a fine-toothed comb to milk them for any advantge they can get, it’s almost a certainty that some of the teams are doing the same with the RRA. And that has made the others unhappy, because they feel that certain teams are taking advantage of everyone else’s honesty to get an edge.

    4. I think that Norbert means to say that abandoning the RRA (as Red Bull in effect are doing and Ferrari to some extent) is not the way to go, as costs would go up again.

      Also don’t forget that in 2005 Mercedes were developing their engines, tuning them to stop blowing up and also put a lot of money into McLaren (being a 40% owner).

  5. I probably would have watched the evolution video 10 times.. it is amazing how the aerodynamic grip balanced or rather over influenced mechanical grip over the years. It is wicked to imagine how these cars would have blasted through the streets of Monaco in the 1950’s through 1960’s without any measure of front or rear wings but with pure rubber and traction.

    1. Go-Kart on crack really :)

  6. I think Vettles comments are about himself…..He is all of it….His name will remain in our vocabulary for some time to come.

    1. I think he was sincere. Personally, I don’t rate him higher than Alonso or Hamilton.

      1. Alain (@paganbasque)
        3rd July 2012, 7:48

        Nowadays Alonso is more complete than him, and in terms of pure speed Hamilton could be considered the fatest one.

        And yes, Schumi stilll got it, 15 years ago the discussion would be inexistent.

        1. I agree with this except for Hamilton being the fastest. Vettel is the fastest IMO.

  7. Aditya Banerjee (@)
    3rd July 2012, 5:13

    Is this Sebastian’s birthday treat to his fellow drivers?

  8. I can’t wait for next race!!!!

    I’ve been following F1 since 1996 and sure I was looking forward to races. But this…..I can’t wait for qualifying to start!!!!!!!!!

    I wouldn’t be very comfy if I was Vettel, the way Webber is going, one or two more DNFs and he will be “second” driver next year. I’d imagine Webber would have been cruising to victory if he was not stuck behind Schumacher all race.

    Alonso’s laugh on team-radio after he crossed finish line, summed it all up nicely :)

    1. If RBR is as effective as it was in Valencia I don’t see anybody but Seb grabbing pole. McLaren is expected to try new parts so let’s see how better their car will be. However, I think Seb will be on pole and Webber will be trying to block Hamilton from another front row start.

      On race day, McLaren should avoid a few stops strategy and try the Canada thing again, pitting for fresh rubber with 12-14 laps to go if your competition is trying to finish on old tyres seems the way to go.

      1. @jcost The forecast says light rain on friday and saturday, moderate rain on sunday. So I dont think they will have the freedom to choose how many pitstops they do. I hope, the race starts behind safetycar with a wet track, so there will be no collisions in Abbey (just in case anyone would try a Monza a la Liuzzi). After three laps SC in, ten laps on wet track, then a drying line appears, that would make my day :)

        1. @bag0 The way the weather has been here recently I’d treat the forecast for tomorrow with a degree of scepticism, never mind one for five days’ time.

          1. Even if its dry, the temps arnt going to be anywhere near Bahrain/Valencia temps, so i cant see Redbull being dominant.

        2. @bag0 Actually I like it. I don’t want to see Vettel dominating again.

      2. Aditya Banerjee (@)
        5th July 2012, 5:52

        So it has come down to this… we can still predict pretty easily who will be quickest on Saturday, despite the fact that this started out as one of the closest seasons ever.

    2. If I remember 2010 Belgian grand prix, many a readers here were of the opinion that the championship was essntially between Webber and Hamilton. We all know how it turned out. Also, Vettel is the driver who split the Brawns in 2009. No matter the deficit, he will still beat Webber in the final standings. Will it be good enough to overhaul the championship, I don’t know. But he has got Mark covered.

      1. @ridiculous – I agree: Mark is a very good driver but Vettel is a brilliant driver (at least when he can challenge for poke anyway). I agree with @jcost in that providing it isn’t a wet qualifying Vettel will be on pole (unless McLaren’s upgrade is substantial); he will be confident after what he achieved in Valencia…

      2. @ridiculous – The post Spa period was when he really impressed me. To get his head down and snatch back the title despite the Korea setback took some composure under great pressure.

        1. Aditya Banerjee (@)
          5th July 2012, 5:55

          He would have won all the four races had it not been for the engine failure at Korea. It was almost like a prequel to his utter dominance in 2011.

    3. I wouldn’t be very comfy if I was Vettel, the way Webber is going, one or two more DNFs and he will be “second” driver next year.

      But that’s just it, Webber needs Vettel to not finish if he wants to come out on top. That’s the only reason Webber had a chance in 2010 and that’s the only reason Webber is ahead of Vettel for now.

      1. “It ain’t necessarily so”, Monaco and elsewhere this year Webber has had more speed, in Barcelona without even trying he was so far ahead of Seb. in Q2. they did not send him back out at the end, Vettel was sent back out and on a track that suddenly “lit-up” the tyres made it into Q3.

        1. “Without even trying” – maybe trying would have been enough for Q3.

          1. @david-a, when I say ” without even trying” I mean he was aiming for a competitive time, fast enough to ensure progressing to Q3 but not so fast as to ruin the tyres or risk damage to the car. For most of Q2 he and Hamilton were so far ahead of the rest that it seemed inconceivable that he would need to go out again

  9. Woop. COTD. I thought the comment was destined to obscurity, as I was one of the first commentators on the article and had no replies to agree or disagree with me. And it sure looks the same in this case as well :D

    1. @stjuuv You hit the nail on the head really. Often it has been like watching two races on the same circuit at the same time but somehow it all makes sense and I find it pretty fascinating.

    2. @stjuuv I do still try to read them all so they aren’t doomed to obscurity, though we get hundreds per day and it’s gets harder to keep up with them all.

    3. Read and heartily agreed with, you said it for me.

  10. Although he doesn’t include himself, for the sake of decency, Vettel very much ranks up there with Alonso and Hamilton. The three drivers seem to have nothing but respect for each other, are extremely competitive and do a brilliant job at displaying their own particular strengths. We’re very fortunate!

    Haug is right about cost control but I’m just wary of a couple of things. We should welcome new competitors to the sport and look after existing ones, but let’s not make it too easy. Regardless of costs, this sport should be difficult, simple as. I don’t want to see anyone struggle too much but getting your money right is part of the battle. Also, there is no rush to sort this out immediately. Sure, the world is in a bad shape but instead of being reactionary the teams should address it properly and not in a panic. I hope they do.

  11. He had to say Alonso he’s sat right next to him look ;-P

  12. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
    3rd July 2012, 9:13

    “Complete”, “quick” and “still got it”. Maybe that’s how their girlfriend’s (and wife) would describe them.

    1. Ba-dum tish!

  13. Breaking news of a crash involving Maria de Villota in a Marussia car in a straight-line aerodynamic test at Duxford. Reports she may have been injured but no firm details yet:

    http://twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk/statuses/220080725481881600
    http://twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk/statuses/220081119981350912

    1. Oh dear oh dear, hope she is ok.
      Apparently Sky are filming there – where is their “breaking news” when you need it? Poor effort.

    2. The bbc news has a short issue on it, by now confirming it is indeed de Villota who drove and that the car apparently crashed into a lorry.

      I hope no one is seriously hurt.
      Would be really sad if in her first run testing an F1 car would injure her.

    3. I don’t know how true this is as it came from Yahoo News (not the most reliable source) but it appears that the crash happened while the team were pushing the car back into the temporary garage at the end of her run.
      They’re reporting that the car accelerated forward, apparently of its own accord.

    4. Now that we know she is OK may I point out the demonstrated publicity value of having a female driver, the crash has been reported in the mainstream Australian press, something that would be unlikely to have happened had it been a male test-driver involved. Hope she is fully recovered soon.

  14. It’s Sebastian Vettel’s birthday – 25 today!

    Also it would be nice to see Jenson carry the torch on Tuesday / Wednesday next week (in my hometown) :-)

  15. Happy 25th Birthday Seb!

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