Vettel proud Red Bull not distracted by “dirty tricks”

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel praised his team after winning the drivers’ championship in Brazil and said he was happy they had not been distracted by “dirty tricks” during the year.

“I think the most important throughout the season, I think it was the toughest we had, is that we always kept believing and we remained ourselves,” Vettel told the BBC after the race.

“Obviously, you know I don’t need to teach you, I don’t need to tell you, you were there all the time, a lot of people tried to play dirty tricks and certain things that maybe are, at least from out point of view beyond the limit.

“And we never get irritated, distracted by that. We kept going our way and all the guys in Milton Keynes, here at the circuit, big, big push until the end. Obviously we have stepped up our game in the second half which allowed us to come back in terms of championship. But I would like to finally thank all the guys in the team, thanks Renault, but in particular all the guys here at the circuit, back in the factory as well.

“Because I think there is no one in our team that feels more important than the other one. We are all a big group and we are fighting all next to each other and not one after the other. So you imagine that is quite a big group of people next to each other and quite a big force. I am very proud of that. I don’t want to make this too long but it’s unbelievable.”

“I was quite lucky nobody hit me”

He described his elation at winning the world championship despite suffering a spin on the first lap of the race: “It’s difficult to imagine what goes through my head now, even for myself. I’m still full of adrenaline I think if you would poke me now I wouldn’t really feel that. I think it was an incredible race I think they tried everything, obviously, to make it more difficult for us today.

“Inside the car when you get turned around in turn four for no reason and then imagine you are heading the wrong way going down he M25 it’s not the most comfortable feeling so I had to keep it straight and, yeah, was quite lucky nobody hit me from that point onwards.”

Vettel said he his started was “decent” but he had nowhere to go in the first corner: “Mark [Webber’s] start was a bit poor, it was a bit worse, I was side by side. But then he squeezed me to the wall and I had to back out of it because it’s a very narrow corner turn one. I lost position, all the people on the outside went by.”

“Then for turn four I was a little bit isolated, didn’t really attack the guys in front, wasn’t attacked by the guy behind but then just got the hit on the rear I think from [Bruno] Senna and was spun around.

“But then I pulled the clutch immediately and tried to not stay on the brakes, release the brakes and try to roll downhill so go with the flow of the whole field. Because obviously if you stand there and someone comes around the corner it’s way more difficult to react for you – I mean it sounds a bit stupid, but when you roll down the hill it’s easier for others to avoid you which was most important by then.

“Fortunately the front wing was intact, obviously we damaged the car which we then saw as I said in the dry conditions there was no pace. I was the slowest car in the straight today, I was dog slow it was unbelievable. Really difficult.”

“We like rain conditions as much as dry”

Vettel added the wet conditions played into his hands from that point on: “Fortunately then it started to rain again, I felt much, much happier. I think all weekend people tried to, how can I say, push us in a certain direction, when it starts to rain that it will be more difficult for us. But I think we have proven across the season we like rain conditions as much as dry conditions. In that case today it helped us even a little bit.

“Yeah I was obviously very happy when after only ten, twenty laps I was back in fourth or fifth, right behind Fernando [Alonso]. But then as I said in the dry we didn’t have the pace. We did probably bad timing with the pit stop, come in to change another set of dries, and then it started to rain so we had to come in again, that doesn’t help.”

Vettel said that when he was behind Alonso he “knew that will be enough – but equally I knew that there’s a long way to go”.

Felipe [Massa] went by and then initially he tried to block us a little bit, to let Fernando go probably and give him a cushion,” he added.

“It doesn’t really matter, you know, we weren’t really distracted by that, we just try to do our thing. I think throughout the season we tried to do that, stick to the rules that we know and I think that made the difference in the end.”

“It’s unreal”

Vettel said it was “unreal” to think he’d become the ninth three-times world champion: “I think for all of us in the team, also for myself, it’s unreal. Also to win the third title here, one of my greatest idols Ayrton [Senna], he was from Sao Paulo, he won three titles. I don’t like talking about myself, really, but it’s very difficult to imagine that you join them.

“There’s other names as well. Actually I think my radio wasn’t working, I was crying, but you didn’t hear that, so quite happy for that. Christian came on the radio and mentioned all the three-time world champions. He forgot [Alain] Prost, actually, so I told him that, but I didn’t think he got it.

“I think that one of the nicest part of our sport is you can compare not necessarily only yourself but your time to the guys racing ten, twenty, fifteen, thirty forty years ago. Yeah, I don’t know, maybe tomorrow I know a little bit more but right now I can’t find the right words.”

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

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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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131 comments on “Vettel proud Red Bull not distracted by “dirty tricks””

  1. Alonso is “proud”, too. The comparison is hilarious.

  2. Actually Christian did get it, he just knows that Prost has 4 titles!

    1. I heard that message, I think he left out Jack Brabham too.

      1. Don’t worry Sebs, next year CH will only say Alain Prost (if you are 4x WDC).

  3. I’m guessing by Dirty Tricks, he’s referring to RBR ordering Webber to let Vettel past?

    1. That’s rich after what Massa has done for Alonso…

      1. Yeah, cant believe he’s moaning about it.

    2. Sometimes I get the feeling that Red Bull do a lot of that stuff behind Vettel’s back so that when he is asked about it, he can say that they don’t do it.

      Maybe Red Bull didn’t resort to “dirty tricks” in Brazil, but their season has been marked by questionable design parts. I can’t recall the last time a team was the centre of four separate technical rows in a season.

      1. Is this liking for Redbull coming after Kimi shoved it in your face at Abu Dhabi? Change of plans, lets take on the other team

      2. @prisoner-monkeys Questionable is fine. Illegal is another thing.

    3. Maybe he’s talking about things like holding up another title contender in qualifying… When you get away with it, I guess you’re not distracted by it.

      I still think that he deserves the title, but his comments make me cringe sometimes…

      1. Alonso was the only one of the top teams drivers that didn’t get even one reprimand the whole year in comparison to Vettel who had 3 drive troughs 1 grid drop and 2reprimands.
        Yet after the race in post-race press conference Alonso when he was asked where he thinks lost the championship he said except from his two retirements :

        “There were also some races that we have some strange decisions let’s say, and some penalties, so maybe we lost also there.”

        What penalties are he talking about ? the penalties he never took?
        He talks about his retirements in a year that ferrari had only 3 of them, ferrari was the most reliable car and the more consistent in the points. Didn’t his opponent had none retirement? Red bull had more retirements, more penalties , mclaren had even more retirements.. i don’t understand why all this moaning from Alonso. He lost fair and square but he finds always something to blame for avoiding to accept that he lost from Vettel.

        1. Ferrari had all year 3 DNF’s
          Red Bull 5
          Mclaren 10!!
          Lotus 8 ( all of them Grosjean!)
          Mercedes 11
          Sauber 11
          Force India 5
          Williams 12
          Torro Rosso 5
          Caterham 4
          Marussia 8
          HRT 13

          So, Ferrari was at the end the team with the least’s DNF’s and only one REAL penalty (drive through) for Massa the whole year. And still Alonso believes he lost the championship because of them……. isn’t he a bit greedy, unreal?

          1. He was speaking about others not getting penalties when they really should have.

          2. Hello, DNFs to Alo caused by others, that’s the huge difference. If your alternator causes you a DNF, well that’s clearly a team problem and not somebody else taking you out of the race. Quite a difference, uh?

        2. He’s talking about Vettel, who had held Alonso up on his flying lap in Japan and wasn’t penalized for it. That’s the “strange decision” he’s referring to.

          1. i think he is also talking about the moment when Vettel overtakes the Toro Rosso with the yellow flag without being pensalised. (Lap 3-4)

  4. Sebastian Vettel praised his team after winning the drivers’ championship in Brazil and said he was happy they had not been distracted by “dirty tricks” during the year.

    What does he call the Toro Rosso drivers giving up the moment they see him, then?

    If you ask me, Red Bull should not be allowed to influence another team like that, even if they are paying for it. There was a very real possibility today that Alonso could have scored enough points to be champion, only for Ricciardo and Vergne to move aside and let Vettel through and be champion himself. The fact that Red Bull are in a position to do this at all is disgusting.

    1. +1, I also wonder how much data torro rosso feed back to Red Bull.

    2. +1 Exactly what I’ve been thinking.

    3. BTW Michael Shumacher today let Vettel pass just like the Torro Rosso drivers , i think that he is referring with “dirty tricks” to the other teams questioning the legality of his car , well his team has done the same with Mercedes at the beginning of the year (DDRS???) this is part of the competition
      I think that these are unnecessary words from Vettel

      1. It’s not the same though, Schumacher let Vettel past because he wanted to, with Torro Rosso, it’s because their boss tells them to.

      2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        26th November 2012, 3:41

        @tifoso1989 Schum was having problems, because just after a couple of laps Koba tried to overtake him as well, Koba failed but Schum was out of pace. Of course I saw he “opened the door” but it was the same Massa has done all year round whenever the chance to do it was there.

      3. Oh get over it. Mercedes is in a direct fight with Sauber in the constructor’s championchip. Trying to fight Vettel and losing ground on Kobayashi would have been unnecessary and stupid in the given conditions.

      4. I would say the dirty tricks was pretty much down to what Ferrari did in Austin foremost, as he can hardly be surprised that Massa let Alonso past. After all, Webber (nor did the STR cars) didn’t fight Vettel passing him either, its the way things go in a title decider.

        1. I didn’t see Webber letting Vettel pass at the first corner …

    4. +1
      So, does this undermine Newey’s accomplishments?

      1. No, it doesn’t undermine his accomplishments (though given the constant legality rows, I think he’s often just as guilty of pushing the envelope). But it all adds up to leave me with the distinct impression that Red Bull are playing with loaded dice.

    5. And before the naysayers jump in here, I’ve felt this way about Toro Rosso ever since they were introduced. I always felt it was deeply unfair that a team like Red Bull could have an extra two cars at their disposal to gain position. Doubly so after the new points system was introduced.

      Team orders are a part of the sport. They always have been, they probably always will be, and they’re legal. But it’s always been a case of a team having their own drivers swap positions. When you get to the point when one team can have two cars from the other team move aside, trouble is brewing.

      What if, for example, Red Bull made the wrong call for Vettel’s final stop, leaving him outside the points on the wrong tyres with five laps left – but the two cars in front of Vettel were Toro Rossos, and by having them move aside, Vettel would be champion? Any other team would simply have to live with it, but because Red Bull (the company) pay Toro Rosso’s bills, they get a second bite at the apple.

      And while this race might have been free of Toro Rossos yielding to Red Bulls, they’ve been doing it all season. For instance, Jean Eric Vergne slowed right down and ran wide at the hairpin in Abu Dhabi when Vettel caught up to him. How different would the championship be if the Toro Rosso were allowed to fight for position?

      1. I think this could very well force a team like Ferrari to also buy up a 2nd team. For all we know, Torro rosso has been helping with RBR development.

      2. What if, for example, Red Bull made the wrong call for Vettel’s final stop, leaving him outside the points on the wrong tyres with five laps left – but the two cars in front of Vettel were Toro Rossos, and by having them move aside, Vettel would be champion? Any other team would simply have to live with it, but because Red Bull (the company) pay Toro Rosso’s bills, they get a second bite at the apple.

        So just to be clear, you’re criticising Red Bull for something that hasn’t actually happened, but you’ve got no problem with Massa’s sacrificing track and grid spots this year? Something that actually happened, multiple times? Because he’s in the same team as Alonso?

        Where do you draw the line? I could counter with a hypothetical where Sauber, who haven’t yet locked in a 2014 engine contract, stand between Alonso and the world championship. Wouldn’t they have just as much incentive to move aside?

        My view is simple. All is fair in love and war, and if you don’t break the sporting rules, it’s fine. There’s no rule against owning two teams, and at a time when a number of teams are struggling for funds, Red Bull should be praised for their investment in the sport, not damned.

        1. So just to be clear, you’re criticising Red Bull for something that hasn’t actually happened, but you’ve got no problem with Massa’s sacrificing track and grid spots this year? Something that actually happened, multiple times? Because he’s in the same team as Alonso?

          What the team do with their own cars and drivers is their business. It’s when that team has the pwoer to directly influence what another team does that it becomes a problem.

          Where do you draw the line? I could counter with a hypothetical where Sauber, who haven’t yet locked in a 2014 engine contract, stand between Alonso and the world championship. Wouldn’t they have just as much incentive to move aside?

          Incentive, yes. Imperative, no. If Sauber moved aside to curry favour with Ferrari and secure a new engine deal, then that is their choice. The difference here is that Toro Rosso have no say in the matter: if Red Bull tell them to move over, they are expected to move over.

          1. Toro Rosso move aside by their own desire because they too need to secure a deal. Every year. No money from Red bull means no engine. So where is the difference again?

          2. Because it would have been made very clear very early on that any deal would hinge on the team moving aside for Red Bull. Toro Rosso have no choice in the matter.

          3. Speculation. We have no way to know whether any of them have a choice.

          4. @crr917 ‘Red Bull’ don’t supply Toro Rosso with engines, Ferrari do. If the logic of their tactics being about securing engines, then they’d be blocking Vettel.

            At the end of the day, there is clearly precedent on the B team aiding the A team. The cars just *move over*.

          5. @optimaxima without red bull money no one will supply engines to toro rosso. In the example of PM both teams benefit from a “move over”.

      3. And another thing. If you’ve been watching Ricciardo closely this year (as I have, he’s my favourite driver) you’d have noticed that there is no evidence whatsoever that he gives any favour to Red Bull cars eg. to Vettel at Monza, or Webber at Singapore.

        1. Riccardo might not jump out of the way like Vergne does, but he doesn’t put up much of a fight, either. If he’s being followed by Vettel or Webber, he won’t fight back as hard as he does other drivers.

          1. Did you wear your aluminium foil hat when you wrote this?

          2. If [Ricciardo]’s being followed by Vettel or Webber, he won’t fight back as hard as he does other drivers

            @prisoner-monkeys, really? Then how on earth do you explain:-

            1. Ricciardo holding up Webber for the first 8 or 9 laps at Valencia?

            2. Ricciardo making it difficult for Vettel to pass him around lap 22 at Monza (indeed, I remember the Sky commentators chipping Dan about having the temerity to mix it with the front runners – Massa and co were also amongst the group)?

            3. The ding dong battle with Webber at Suzuka, where Ricciardo chased and overtook him around laps 20 to 26?

            4. The last 5 laps of Singapore, where Ricciardo fought and held off Webber for 9th place (although Webber was later given a time penalty for overtaking with all 4 wheels of the track, Koboyashi from recollection, and demoted to 11th).

            These are just the examples I can quickly remember, having used Keith’s very useful lap charts to confirm the lap numbers.

            Seriously, I’m amazed that Ricciardo had his contract renewed for 2013, given his complete failure to follow the Red Bull/Toro Rosso script you are so adamant exists.

          3. how on earth do you explain

            In a single word: Webber.

            Red Bull doesn’t care about Mark Webber, as they’ve repeatedly demonstrated. They don’t care if he holds Webber up. Sebastian Vettel is the favoured son. If Ricciardo held him up in Monza, then no doubt Helmut Marko got stuck into him where the cameras couldn’t see.

      4. @prisoner-monkeys

        Dont you think Perez could have won race in Malaysia this year when he was much faster than Alonso’s Ferrari. And during that time there was a lot of talk about how Perez let Alonso win that race by going off the track at one of the corners during last few laps. So this is not the case where Ferrari ordered just Massa to move aisde for Alonso . they do have some control over that Sauber, so stop whinning about how RedBulls have control over Torro Rosso.

        1. @mjf1fan

          And during that time there was a lot of talk about how Perez let Alonso win that race by going off the track at one of the corners during last few laps. So this is not the case where Ferrari ordered just Massa to move aisde for Alonso

          There is no hard evidence that Ferrari somehow arranged for Perez to spin out. There’s no soft evidence for it, either. A far more likely explanation is that Sauber’s warning to keep it on the road and settle for second if he thought first was too big a risk simply intruded into his concentration at precisely the wrong moment, and he spun off. As I recall, Perez began catching Alonso at a rate that meant he would have passed the Ferrari in another lap or two, but he ran out of laps.

          1. he would have overtaken alonso had he not spun off, had he not been told on radio to be careful and leave alonso alone. When is the last time you hear on radio that a driver is being asked to be careful when he is fighting for 1st place in a race ? doesnt it sound strange?

          2. Not for a team so unused to finishing as high as 2nd. Perhaps Hulkenberg needed the same advice.

          3. @prisoner-monkeys
            Sorry man, this is a bit of a stretch. You would have to be inside the guys brain to even begin to draw such conclusions. May I suggest you start taking your medication again, and return to the sharp, data-driven focus we all know you to have?

      5. I agree with you, but just wanted to add that Ferrari pretty much has Sauber as their second team. Like when Perez was told to leave Alonso alone when he could have won the race.

        I would have argued that McLaren have Force India as their second team, but with the way Hulkenberg botched his overtake on Hamilton I guess that’s not really there. It cost McLaren the WCC.

    6. I think what he is referring to is Massa’s gearbox. Red Bull haven’t done anything of the sort to Webber so he is proud that they are all united as a team. The fact is, Red Bull do pay for Toro Rosso, but their car is also much faster. To see an RB8 overtaking an STR7 isn’t exactly much to be looked into: he’d have probably breezed past anyway – especially in tricky conditions where Vettel is also very good.

      In actual fact I find the way in which Massa is held back and is clearly Alonso’s puppet more disgusting than if a Toro Rosso happens to not put up a huge fight if a faster Red Bull is coming up behind it.

    7. Torro Rossos race pace was slightly better than the Caterhams , does anyone really believe that Vettel could not pass them without them lifting the foot from the throttle?
      Ricciardo even finished the race behind Petrov and Pic. And don’t forget that 2 races before it was a torroroso that forced him to the DRS board which breaked his front wing. That didn’t seem to me a big help?

      1. @cosmas exactly, as I said the RB8 was hugely faster with Vettel at the wheel even with the damage! It’s called knowing how to pick your fights, something which Paul Di Resta used to do very well (although he hasn’t been in many fights for position recently)!

    8. What about in Malaysia when Peter Sauber team order Perez to hold position when he clearly are in the position to catch up and overtake Alonso. And mysterious strange overshot from Perez Ferrari-powered Sauber car?

    9. Guys, I think you’re all missing the point.

      Seb is not saying that there were no dirty tricks, that RBR didnt engage in them, nor that other teams did not play dirty tricks on RBR, but simply stating that they were not distracting; in other words, very well scripted, fully baked into the program, and part of “business as usual. :-)

    10. There is nothing in the rules saying that you can’t own 2 teams which means this is hypothetical scenario is entirely fair. Direct competitors to Red Bull have understood since the birth of Torro Rosso, that they are going to help each other out when the time comes. Red Bull and Torro Rosso have been raced against accordingly and as just an advantage as it may seem there are draw-backs. Do you think if all the money that got invested into Torro Rosso instead got funneled into Red Bull it would have been such a close championship fight? How many points did having Torro Rosso on the grid really buy the A team? You don’t think Ferrari and McLaren contribute to similar allegiances with teams further down the grid? As someone said earlier, Red Bull, as a company, should be applauded by committing resources to not one, but TWO!, full fledged F1 teams. That is a massive undertaking that has (as I mentioned) it’s pros and cons.

  5. Oh dear, your headline’s going to bring out all the nutters and conspiracy theorists.
    Including me: I thought Vettel was referring to various accusations that the Red Bull car was illegal. But that’s what you get when you build the fastest car.

  6. Mmm. No Dirty Tricks… apart from flexing wings, manual suspension adjustments, and webber moving over.

    Riiiight.

    1. Webber moving over?
      I saw two times when Webber drove quite dangerously towards Vettel in Sau paulo. So if this is how you define webber moving over than Yes he did move over

      1. Yet you missed the times when Webber actually did move over?

        Not really an issue since Massa does the same for alonso, but nonsense is nonsense.

    2. @hairs – they were legal when they raced them. They passed FIA scrutineering and so were decared fit to race. Whether you think they were pushing the boundaries too far is only your personal opinion but it has always been the case that the team who is the cleverest and most ingenious (with a bit of cash and reliability) will win the championship.

      1. Well, in fairness to that statement, the FIA did require Red Bull remove their suspension adjustment switch and their hole in the floor.

        Both were clearly ‘rule interpretation’ issues, hence no fine once discovered, but before they got a handle on the car, Newey and his team did seem to be skirting around obvious illegalities to cover performance deficits.

    3. Webber and 2 Toro Rossos and Mr. Schumacher…

  7. I don’t know what he’s on about with this statement but if this isn’t hypocritical, I don’t know what is…

    Red Bull kept forcing Webber to move over for Vettel for 3 years in a row, they’ve been at the borderline of regulations for three years in a row: EBD / flexi-front-wings / holes in the floor / engine mappings / wheel cambers etc., they have a whole other team on the grid using competitor engines who they bounce data off with two drivers that will move out of the way faster than Horner can spell “team order” and STILL there’s the other guys who use dirty tricks against them?

    Go enjoy your 3rd world title, Seb and shut the **** up…

    1. Red bull’s car was legal at every race. Rules were changed numerous times to cripple red bull. And they still come on top. And the penalties given to RBR drivers were too harsh, especially when some people could get away with it always. A red one in particular.

      1. @crr917 – Did I say it was illegal? No, it was legal and it managed to be just that by bending the rules and taking the regulations and finding shortcuts in those pages. And I didn’t blame them for that up until the point where Vettel came out talking this nonsense.

        It’s all plain and simple…don’t blame others for bending the rules when you’re doing the exact same thing yourself.

        And give me a break with all the “rules were made to cripple Red Bull” nonsense. I’m tired of that.

        1. It was a coincidence then. How convenient.
          And everyone is supposed to bend the rules. This is no spec series.

        2. @crr917 – I did not say it was a coincidence but I’m not saying it’s wrong for the FIA to intervene when one single team finds a solution that is half-legal / half-illegal and gives them a definitive advantage over ALL of their competitors.

          It’s the same logic as it is behind counting cards in a game. It’s not illegal per-se but it’s frowned upon and some competition regulators are allowed to intervene when the case asks for it.

          And again, I have no problem whatsoever with bending the rules. I have a problem with Vettel complaining about others bending the rules as if himself and his team are 100% clean and everyone else tries to push them off their throne through mischevious tactics.

          1. I bet Vettel is implying that some of the teams put pressure on FIA to change the rules. All my writings come from that point of view :)

          2. “Felipe went by and then initially he tried to block us a little bit, to let Fernando go probably and give him a cushion. It doesn’t really matter, you know, we weren’t really distracted by that, we just try to do our thing. I think throughout the season we tried to do that, stick to the rules that we know and I think that made the difference in the end.”

            This makes me think he’s directing the comment at Ferrari and their use of Massa in Sao Paulo and Austin.

          3. The whole first part is general talk about the season.

  8. The guy likes to talk like no other! Great job Seb!

  9. Something Adrian said on the BBC forum after the race has me stomped. He said that when Vettels car was damaged, they changed the engine maps so that it made less heat.

    I remember earlier in the year they banned the changing of engine maps. Am I missing something here?

    1. I suspect he meant they had Seb switch to a different pre-defined map, e.g. a fuel-conserving map or something like that.

      1. Yeah, evidently he’s missed all the times (like in Austin) where McLaren had Hamilton switch to yellow G3 for an “overtake” or high power setting. They all have different maps loaded for power, fuel economy, and I’m sure some in between.

      2. Yes because it is common place for the head engineer of the entire operation to make that kind of mistake…

    2. Engine Maps can be changed. The only clarification was they limited what the engine maps could do re: exhaust blowing (which wasn’t banned – it was was the location of the exhaust exits that was controlled).

      The ‘effect’ had to be within a certain range of their maps at the beginning of the season.

  10. Geez, some people really hate this guy. Sad :(

    1. Come on, laugh at them. They write plenty of fun stuff. Besides, the headline is really good burn to Alonso and his opinion on Ferrari’s tactics in Austin. Now having won the title it just puts salt in the wound.

      1. I agree.. the sour grapes here are to die for!! I’m grinning from ear to ear. So happy for Seb… and love how the excuses are wearing thin. Nowadays the only thing the naysayers are repeating is how “lucky” he is.. since their last statement how he can’t overtake has given them egg in their face (you can add overtaking in rain to that list as well).

        Also, I quite agree with his statement. So many people tried to bring him and Red Bull down and with having a dig at him… from Alonso (with his Samurai nonsense), Hamilton (how Alo is the best Driver), statements how it’s Newey who’s winning it all, or how Rain in Sao Paolo will damage his chances… gotta love how he just did his thing and served his answer with winning the 3rd title! You just have to love that about him… (as long as you don’t have the hate coloured glasses on)

        1. To add further to your coments, wasnt Alonso LUCKY in first half of season when a lot of his gains came from misfortunes of other teams. That time everyone hailed him as GOD.
          Okay for once even if I agree that Vettel had been lucky, then IMO he was lucky at the time he needed his luck to favor him the most.

        2. +++@Roberto38 fully agree
          @mjf1fan , Alonso benefited from others misfortunes the WHOLE year not only in the start of the season. Even in this last race everything went his way , except that Vettel managed to finish the race.
          Quallify –> Grosjean, Maldonado out
          Race —> Hamilton , Hulkenberg out, 2nd place
          1st SC —–> Closed the gap to Button from 40sec to 0 and a chance for the win from nowhere.
          He could win this race without doing something special , only staying behind watching his opponents in front taking each other out of the race. And this man still whining about his misfortunes……really?

          1. @cosmas
            Indeed Alonso benefited from others misfortunes WHOLE season, but off lately alonso has been whinning about how unlucky he had been in second half of season. So I was just pointing out about his luck in first half where he thinks he drove the wheels off that Ferrari.

            Of course he did drove great but he should also keep in mind about his LUCK

  11. Bravo Seb.
    You beat the so called Master of the mind games, let him have twitter, let him praise Newey, let him and Hamilton belittle you at every opportunity, let Ferrari screw their #2 to aid you, let the weather gods throw the double 0 on the roulette wheel, let yourself get tagged into a spin on lap 1.
    Fullly deserved, in the pressure part of the year, you go 1,1,1,1,3,2,6

      1. Dirty tricks? Wow. That’s low. Every single team was trying to bend the rules here and there. It’s part of the game. Seb won the championship fair and square, but comments like these don’t make me like him.

    1. in the pressure part of the year, you go 1,1,1,1,3,2,6

      As effusive as it gets. But perhaps more precisely:

      in the “Adrian finally found the grail” part of the year, you go: 1,1,1,1
      in the pressure part of the year, you go 3,2,6

      1. in the pressure part of the year, you go 3,2,6

        And what exactly is wrong with that? These results are cracking when you consider he had to fight from the BACK of the grid countless times.. it just re-affirms his class.. (that many of his naysayers are just unable to grasp)

  12. It’s reasons like these why I don’t really like the guy.

  13. I would say this “dirty tricks” comment points more towards those Vettel-to-Ferrari rumors from midseason than anything else. I always thought that those rumors were started by Ferrari itself to try to destabilize the atmosphere in the Red Bull garage.

    1. Interesting idea.

    2. @golarrazabal – That’s a good point but I’m afraid that still doesn’t justify Vettel’s overreaction here. Whether that was a PR move from Ferrari or a attempt at a psychological war, it shouldn’t be Vettel’s concern. That’s the communication / strategy department’s concern. And let’s face it, there’s still a shadow of hypocrisy there since Red Bull’s communication strategies are, at times, just as questionable as Ferrari’s.

      1. Overreaction was made by the media, by making a simple sentence he said into a headline..(see above for proof).. I really doubt he could care less now and it’s not like he was saying anything unfair or untrue either.. since everyone for the last few races (including other teams) tried to bring him down and was having digs at him..

    3. Agree with that. I think the rumors were started to unsettle Red Bull.

      But I think it is not a rumor after all :). Vettel at Ferrari will happen in 2014! I am sure.. Vettel just didn’t like the fact that Ferrari would use that bit of information to unsettle his current team now.

      1. These rumors pop up every year, whether Ferrari fights for the championship or not. That’s a nice conspiracy theory, but still I wouldn’t call it “dirty tricks”.

    4. Not only that, but Fernando constantly saying his car isn’t good (he actually has people believing it now, which is sad considering it’s been faster than the RB8 in many races this year, and in some races, the fastest car overall), constantly downplaying Sebastian’s successes, saying Sebastian’s wins were “easy”, claiming his title fight is against Newey and not Vettel, asking the stewards to penalise his rival, continuously instigating investigations to have him penalised further, playing silly games on Twitter etc.

      There are mind games and then there is this. And Fernando’s played it to perfection because he has gained a legion of supporters and ensured people remember his efforts this season for a long time. He had many believe he was outperforming his car when it probably wasn’t the case at all; that Ferrari was a very, very good all-round car. But in the end, he lost because he wasn’t good enough in the last races when his car was arguably faster than the Red Bull. So I hope that’s what people remember about the 2012 season instead.

      Fernando drove well. But he didn’t drive well enough and he certainly didn’t do as well as he’d like everyone to think. I can understand why Sebastian is proud to have come out on top after Fernando threw everything he and Ferrari had at him.

      1. @damonsmedley I think I can mostly agree with what you wrote. I still think Alonso did a slightly better job than Vettel over the year (which doesn’t mean that Vettel is an undeserving champion) but his greatness has been exaggerated. I tend to believe that the difficult winter tests and low expectations after them, Massa’s disastrous first half of the year, closeness of the field and some good PR work sometimes made Alonso look better than he actually was.

      2. Fernando constantly saying his car isn’t good (he actually has people believing it

        I might have selective memory, so please correct me if I’m wrong, but throughout 2012

        I seem to remember race weekends McLaren looked untouchable Friday through Sunday

        I seem to remember race weekends Red Bull looked untouchable Friday through Sunday

        with Ferrari I just scratch my head, when was the last time they were truly dominant throughout a race weekend

        But yeah, Ferrari was a great car this year, and anyone believing Alonso’s moaning is sadly misled

      3. Conjecture, meet Data….
        Fernando Alonso, (and the entire Ferrari team for that matter) had exactly ZERO fastest laps in a race this season. However, Bruno Senna, Nico Rosberg, Sergio Perez, Romain Grojean and even Kamui Kobayashi have.
        http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2012/dhl_fastest_laps.html

        With this DATA methinks, the Ferrari car was a bit of a dog…
        @damonsmedley

        1. To further level set….

          1. In case your wondering, the leader in fast laps is (surpise) Sebastian Vettel
          2. Kamui got his fast lap in China driving a car who’s lump is made buy (wait for it..) Ferrari
          3. In 2012 the Ferrari has never topped the charts of Quali speed trap.
          3b. SEB did have fastest speed trap only one time at Belgium, yet some how has 6 fastest lap in race this season. The reason, in case your wondering, is their high corner speeds due to superior handling.

          Data says, the Ferrari team produced a sub-standard car for 2012, and the RBR livery was pretty damn good. Further data says Fernando was able to lead the championship for most of this season, and only lost by a handful of points. I dont think the quality of FA’s work this season can be I can spell this out any clearer, nor denied in the face of this…
          However, this is the internet an everyone is free to don their tin-foil hats.

        2. Data doesn’t always tell the full story, maybe he didn’t have the fastest car or one able to set fastest laps, BUT his car was excellent on starts (it wasn’t his skill alone since Massa was able to do the same thing in the last few races) and has had MASSIVE amounts of luck with accidents and retirements in front of him.. if you can call what Vettel had in a few races luck, then Alonso must’ve been cr@pped on by fairies and a genie at the beginning of the season..

          1. You miss my point…
            My comments are intended to simply point out that Alonso did well with the car he was given. I make no statements that he should have won, nor anything about his portion of “luck” nor that Vettel is undeserving, simply that the car he was given was clearly and undeniably off pace with the other top teams. Yet, Alonso was able to do more with it than it was capable of. Even after discounting results attributable to the bad luck of others, or the good luck for him, he was able to produce better results than the car’s design had provision for.

  14. He should be proud of Newey that won him the championship and so they didn’t need to play “dirty tricks”.

  15. Dirty Tricks? Such as? Anyway, Vettel shouldn’t be WDC, anyone else would’ve got a penalty for taking out Senna, he passed a Sauber under yellow flags, again should’ve got a penalty and he showed he doesn’t perform too well under pressure. It’s done know though, i expect Newey will move on soon and Vettel/Red Bull will suddenly seem more beatable.

    1. They weren’t yellow flags – the FIA has confirmed were the constant warning signs relating to the slippery surface.

      It was just jumped on by the Sky pundits based on some poor, rain-obscured footage.

      1. Wrong, watch the replay, they ARE 100% yellow lights on the flag markers as well as the slippery track striped flag.

  16. It looks like a terrible day for Vettel Nay Sayers !!!! Quite simply they are unable to stomach the fact that he is a triple world champion up along with Fangio :) I guess it is time to be sportive and give it to him for once.

    If the car is such a miracle that it does not need a driver a drive it , why is webber who is regarded by all as good as Vettel 100 points behind him. ???

    If anyone one can win world championships with Newey built cars, why is Mclaren still having just one WDC in last 12 years. That too with a non Newey car ?

    1. It looks like a terrible day for Vettel Nay Sayers !!!!

      I know.. it’s pretty funny.. :D

    2. If anyone one can win world championships with Newey built cars, why is Mclaren still having just one WDC in last 12 years. That too with a non Newey car ?

      oh its just the internet and ignorance. .pretty sure 90% of these guys who think Newey is god/master started watching f1 in the last 4-5 years and they have no clue who the other designers are. .
      RBR 2013 should bear Newey’s wiki on the car itself. maybe then people would know where he has been before joining RBR. .he is a great designer, but championships have been won without him.

      1. Exactly, it’s funny how everyone forgets Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne were the king’s of F1 for a 5 years stint there. As well as there Benneton winner. Bigios and Zander come to mind as well…

        Either way a good season (not the way I wished it ended) and cant wait for next season.

    3. “…he is a triple world champion up along with Fangio”

      Please let me clarify that Fangio was a five times world champion with four different teams, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes and Ferrari, something that no one has been able to match until the present days.

      1. Fangio also won four consecutive world championships: 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957.

      2. @mariano Maybe I was not clear enough. Only 3 people have won Three consecutive Titles or a Hat-trick of F1 Titles – Fangio, Schumacher and Vettel.

        I should have said ” he is a Hat-Trick World Champion along with Fangio and Schumi” . Yes I do understand that Fangio won 5 titles and Schumi won 7 titles.

        1. That’s 100% accurate. He has indeed joined the exclusive club of the Hat-Trick World Champions. I consider Vettel as one of the best current drivers in the grid along with Hamilton and Alonso. So congratulations to Vettel for achieving the WDC!

        2. Obligitory PPSA (Pedantic Public Service Announcement)
          “Hat-trick” is a term used in ice hockey when a single player scores 3 goals in a single game. These goals need not be consecutive.

          The use of the word “hat-trick” to describe Vettel’s latest WDC accomplishment is a misnomer, and indeed is a minimization of his achievement. Because, by the definition of the word, Fernando Alonso would be eligable for that title if he wins one more WDC. Obviously, such a condition would not be an equal match for what Vettel has done in the past 3 seasons.

          The “Hat-Trick” term might be used more properly to describe a driver who completes what is sometimes called “the Triple-Crown”; ie a single driver taking the honor of Pole, Fastest Lap and Win in a single race weekend.

          I care about the people in the board, and wouldn’t want anyone to walk around saying silly things… you’re welcome ;-)

          1. @javlinsharp Being a stickler for grammar myself, my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary is well-worm to say the least. It defines ‘hat-trick’ as occurring in cricket when a player takes three wickets with consecutive balls. The second definition is “three goals, points, (esp. consecutive) successes, etc…

            Hence this headline:

            Vettel clinches drivers’ championship hat-trick

          2. Curses, you have bested my pedantry (if thats a word) with facts…
            Chalk it up to typical North American myopia; Im sure I can be forgiven for forgetting the world-popular game of Cricket. We dont get much exposure to it out here.
            @keithcollantine

    4. why is webber who is regarded by all as good as Vettel 100 points behind him

      He is not regarded that way at all.

  17. Vettel is the 2012 F1 champion, and please stop with your if this, if that… the guy is 3 times in a row champion, that says a lot.

    1. the guy is 3 times in a row champion, that says a lot

      The guy is 3 times in a row WDC in probably the strongest F1 field ever, and that indeed says a lot. Depending on your biases, either

      – he is The Greatest Driver of All Time (otherwise, how on earth could he manage to beat this pack of opponents again and again and again without missing a beat)

      oooooor…

      – perhaps he’s got a tiny little bit of luck on his side driving the standout car of these three years

      1. – perhaps he’s got a tiny little bit of luck on his side

        Yes, like every other championship winner in the history of F1..

  18. I think he’s talking about the holes in the floor and the engine mapping which the FIA outlawed. Maybe the flexi-wing too.

  19. I expect Red Bull to buy HRT and call it “Toro Rojo” racing team so Vettel can have 5 open doors to pass thru next seasson to valid his “clean” tricks

    1. Actually I suspect Alonso, being Spanish, will pick them up himself – he’d have a tax write off to compensate for not living in Switzerland anymore, and a couple more rear gunners. Karthekayan did well messing up Vettel this season, so I’m sure Fred would keep him on the team lol.

      1. Nowadays, Alonso as Spanish resident can only get taxes written off if he legalises black money or wans to open a casino.
        Kartikayan did well as Whiting told the drivers to do on that track section

  20. Dirty tricks mean predefined team-order which only happens at Ferrari. Why Massa still there? Maybe every day he prays for Alonso fall so he will be allowed to be competitive again. With predefined team-order, Kimi would have been 2x WDC already.

    1. After Senna, Prayer doesn’t help save the three B. stooges – Piquet jr, Ruben, Massa. See the connections? three Stooges? Piquet sacrifiies his career for a certain 2WDC win, Ruben sacrify his win for a certain multiple WDC & Massa is slower than a certain 2WDC, make a perfect pass over for a certain red car…. see the dots?

  21. I happen to think Seb’s comment on “Dirty Tricks” was targeted at his competitors. Of course, Seb would NEVER admit RBR was engaged in anything less than the highest levels of sportsmanship, and is completely above board in that regard. He must be referencing Ferrari’s GearBox Seal breakage at USGP, or other actions taken by others, and how his team did not fall into that, and remained honorable, moral and otherwise squeaky clean.

  22. Vettel overtaking HRT under flashing yellow flags:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm_6c_PWi7E

  23. It’s funny – if Alonso had a bad machine this year it wasn’t his PR machine. He convinced so many to believe that he is the clean, underdog fighter who can’t do wrong. He is a good driver and at the moment one of the best on the grid, but he’s a shyster.
    Ever since crashgate, spygate, the break tests and the Quali in Hungary 07 and subsequent “extortion” of his team – Karma has him on the debit side.

  24. Ofcourse this is a swipe at Ferrari from Vettel, in that Ferrari ‘HAD’ to do what they did in Texas out of desperation. The events in Austin a week ago convinced me that Vettel would be champion. When a team has to resort to the kind of tactics Ferrari did its worrying, its an admittance that they are not as good as a rival in terms of performance.
    Saying that, Ferrari’s decision to sabotage Massa’s car is nothing new. Red Bull were guilty of that two years ago in Silverstone when they swapped Mark Webber’s front wing over to aid Sebastien Vettel. Famously, after winning the grands prix, Webber sarcastically stated over the radio that the victory was ‘not bad for a number two driver’. Alot of people will read into this from Vettel and curse him, call him two faced, and they may have a point. Deep down though, its one upmanship on Sebastien’s point, he is suggesting in my mind that Ferrari ‘were not good enough’ to win the championship without resorting to craftiness. He is not suggesting at all that Alonso was not up to par, and that is important I think.

    1. I think what he is suggesting (and actually saying) most of all is that he and his team didn’t let the tactics get to them.. since they were desperate attempts to bring in doubts and unsettle them..

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