Vettel not getting bored of runaway race wins

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel says he’s not getting bored of winning race after race in dominant fashion.

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2013 United States Grand Prix – Post Race Press Conference (FIA)

Vettel: “It’s not as if I’ve been getting bored. Obviously I’ve quite a lot to do, looking at the gaps. First of all, I have to match their pace. Obviously when they do come closer it’s not the best feeling because you want the gap to increase always, but you don’t want the gap to become smaller.”

Nico Hulkenberg welcomes offer of Sauber seat for 2014 season if he wants it (Sky)

Hulkenberg: "I want to get a car that’s able to do what we’re doing now basically to well in the points and I wouldn’t mind to be on the podium every now and then. But certainly Sauber is one of the possible options."

Jenson Button admits he needs to ‘sort himself out’ (Autosport)

Button: "It’s not just that [the car is uncompetitive]. This weekend I just didn’t put it all together. I’ve got to sort myself out."

113,162 fans watch Vettel make history at Formula 1 race at COTA (San Antonio Express)

"Three-attendance for COTA’s second Formula 1 Grand Prix was 250,324, with 58,276 fans attending Friday’s practice sessions and 78,886 turning out for Saturday’s qualifying rounds. Last year COTA drew a three-day total of 265,499 for the inaugural event."

STR’s Tost on Ricciardo, RBR and Russian rookies (F1)

Franz Tost: "You never know when a driver shows his highest potential. For Red Bull the main reason for choosing Daniil was simply the fantastic performance he has shown during this year."

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Comment of the day

With Sebastian Vettel taking a record-breaking eighth successive win yesterday, Garion Higgs (@gazz) gives credit where credit is due.

As much as I dislike Vettel, I have to respect him hugely.

You often see people downplay his achievements, as I have in the past, saying others would have bettered him, had they had a red bull at their disposal, and that he doesn’t deserve wins, championships even.
It’s comments like "Fernando should have won it in 2012??? and "Mark/Jenson/Lewis/Fernando had bad luck in 2010 and any should have gotten it over Vettel" that make me think, "Fernando and Lewis, whom Vettel are often compared to are outstanding talents, Vettel is a true legend.
You cannot justify that his performance this year has been less than outstanding and that he has deserved every point.

That is coming from a Lewis Hamilton fan.
Garion Higgz

From the forum

Who should the remaining 2014 race seats go to?

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On this day in F1

Red Bull won the constructors’ championship for the third time in as many seasons on this day last year at the United States Grand Prix.

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103 comments on “Vettel not getting bored of runaway race wins”

  1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    18th November 2013, 0:46

    Lol at Sutil trying to pin the blame on Maldonado, when it was pretty clear that it was Sutil who veered left into Maldonado for no apparent reason.

    He caused his own demise on that one.

    1. Sutil whining like a baby for something he did wrong? Inconceivable!

    2. Yep. I don’t think he is worth of a seat in F1, when compared to the likes of even di Resta (who has gotten a lot of criticism lately). Scored hardly anything against di Resta this year, and does things like this.

  2. Hulkenberg: “I want to get a car that’s able to do what we’re doing now basically to well in the points and I wouldn’t mind to be on the podium every now and then. But certainly Sauber is one of the possible options.”

    Thank god, Sauber. You made it so much easier to swallow if Hulk doesn’t get the Lotus drive and Maldo gets it…

  3. Excellent choice for COTD, IMO.

    1. “Vettel not getting bored of runaway race wins” —- headline should’ve read:

      “Vettel not getting bored of runaway race wins, but Punters – they are!

  4. I genuinely think that Sauber is Hulkenberg’s best option. I’ve said this a few times but if the Russian money arrives then they will be secure, and if he can continue to perform well then it opens the door for either a McLaren or Ferrari drive in 2015. Moving to Lotus could jeopardise that as he’d be at his 4th team in 5 seasons. Also, it could be useful for the bigger teams to see how he can develop the car.

    1. Completely agree. I’d like to see him nab Button’s seat in 2015 tbh. Quantum joke also shows what kind of trouble Lotus are in. Plus, staying at a team more than one year would be new territory for Hulk.

      Perez Lotus. Hulk Sauber. Maldonado FI. Done.

      1. Genii have enough money to keep the team competitive for decades. It’s just that they want something back.

      2. That’s exactly what I think it will be as well.

    2. @deej92 As a Gutierrez fan, I wish him nothing more than Hulkenberg again as his teamate in Sauber again for 2014. He’s making him look bad but I think he’s pulling him in the right direction. He’s grown so much since the beginning of the season and I think a good part of it is thanks to Nico. They also seem to have good chemistry. This can only happen, of course, if Guti has impressed enough to stay in Sauber or F1 haha. Unfortunatly, I fear a bit for him. Though I read somewhere that if it was Peter Sauber’s decission he would keep both of them.
      But Hulk is such a great driver. I think Ferrari will take him over Bianchi when they retire Kimi. I wish him all the best for next year, and I would like to see him stay in F1 over Esteban, and that’s saying a lot.

      1. Don’t forget about Sirotkin. One of them will likely be gone next year, probably Gut

        1. Sirotkin is looking less and less likely by the passing week, another year of FR3.5 with Free Practices isn’t out of the question, though.

  5. I know I’ll get bashed, but I’m still not convinced. Schumacher didn’t convince me completely either until his 6th or 7th title, despite all the amazing numbers. So Vettel has a long way to go. I still think Prost, Piquet, Senna and others were better, though people will say “oranges and apples”. Well, I compare oranges to apples as well, so deal with it.

    I’d be impressed if he pulled a Maradona. When the Argentinian was considered the absolute best and was winning everything in the top teams, like Barcelona, he said “well, I’m going to a 2nd division team in Italy and I’ll bring them to glory”, and so he did. If Vettel is so good, he’d be able to do something similar (not saying he should go to Force India or Marussia, but at least win in a non-Newey car). If he does that, then there will be no way to deny his greatness. But while he is in a Newey car, the doubt will remain.

    1. Meanwhile, Mika Hakkinen, Jacques Villeneuve, Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell are withholding Vetel entry to their ‘we only won championships in Newey cars but are generally accepted as excellent drivers’ club.

      1. I’d say Hakkinen and Mansell are great drivers indeed, but not at the top. They’re not the same material as Senna, Prost, Piquet, Lauda… And as for Villeneuve and Hill, well, they had the opportunity to do exactly what I mentioned, and failed miserably (Arrows and BAR). I really think you may as well give those titles to Newey, they were nothing special anywhere else.

        1. I’m sorry I don’t agree with this. Anyone who has seen 86′ and 87′ would also disagree with you. I would never put Piquet above Mansell. Piquet’s titles were built around perfect timing. Now before you say that is true for most title winners, I would argue that he was exceptionally lucky in that regard. Mclaren didn’t turn up in 87′ and Mansell crappy luck throughout the season.

          1. This just goes to show that ‘best driver’ is actually a very abstract concept. Unless you go with the stats, it’s quite a subjective thing, but the stats don’t take luck and politics and certain circumstances into account. Piquet-Mansell-Senna-Prost were the first I saw racing, and for some reason I like Piquet the best, even over Prost, though I know it’s not ‘right’ thinking that. I’m sure some old-schoolers were better than these guys, and possibly some ‘new-schoolers’, but I guess first impressions are the ones that stick.

        2. Hill wasn’t that bad. 2nd in an Arrows at the Hungaroring and winning at Spa in a Jordan-not that bad.

          1. Would have won that race in Hungary had the arrows not let go in the last lap or so.

      2. And by the way, I’m not saying Vettel is not a great driver, he is. But I just think his stats are way above what a driver with a usual career would have.

        1. *A driver with his ability, in an usual career path*

          1. “A driver with the ability as you choose to perceive it.”

      3. +1 make no doubt about it JV and Hill were flogs when discussing the greats

    2. What is this obsession with “Newey cars”? He’s not an infallible wizard who designs only unbeatable cars.

      Also, I’m interested to know what convinced you completely about Schumacher after six or seven titles.

      1. Certainly, he is not infallible, but you must admit the guy is pretty talented, and one of (if not THE) best in what he does.

        Well, after a while I just had to give up not being convinced by Schumacher, when competition kept changing and he kept crushing them. Still I don’t think he is the absolute best ever, but he is certainly up there with them, and the fact that he won in different periods with different teams was part of convincing me. I do think Raikkonen could have easily snatched a couple of titles from him, as Alonso and Hamilton could have taken some from Vettel, it was a mix of luck and circumstance that prevented them from doing that, boosting the German stats to amazing levels.

        1. @flig You might enjoy going the forum topic here:

          You can join the list of users who think it is a real list and annoy @mnmracer with your comments ;)

        2. @flig I’m going to take your logic train and apply it to Ayrton Senna: he won all of his world championships at McLaren, who had easily the best car at time during that period. Obviously you could make the claim on ’88 that Prost was his teammate, but beyond that he had “average” teammates.

          Of course he won in another team, but so did Vettel.

          1. In all honesty, mentioning Senna is actually a reflex of being Brazilian. Not because I am Brazilian and that means I love Senna, but because if I say that anyone was better than Senna (which I do think, many actually), my fellow countrymen will try to break my arms and legs, so I just got used to mentioning him in all my ‘best drivers’ list.

    3. @flig I’m afraid I don’t understand your logic. You mention Senna, for instance, as one of your ‘benchmark’ drivers. Yet Senna only ever won titles in a dominant Mclaren. Neither did he look to bring a mediocre team ‘to glory,’ he didn’t even want to stay in underperforming Mclaren and promptly switched to a then-dominant Williams in 1994. As a champion and a formidable driver, he wanted to drive the best car with the best designers/engineers making it.

      Same with Prost. He won with multiple teams, but was always looking for the best car to drive. Yes, he did do a one-off at Ferrari in 1990, but it was his next-best option after finding it impossible to drive in the same team as Senna. Then he even took a break in 1992 so that he gets to drive the best car in 1993 and doesn’t waste time driving a whole year elsewhere.

      It’s natural for a winning driver to want to drive the best car for the best team. When Red Bull goes bust, Vettel will go to the fastest team and continue (or hope to) win there. If you want to support drivers who don’t follow the same policy and instead try to take on a different challenge by bringing a midfield car to the top, then it’s your choice. But then don’t put Senna and Vettel into different brackets, because so far, their choices don’t seem all too different. Say Senna is a better driver, fine, but a better sportsman who chooses backmarker teams and wins in them? Please.

      1. @einariliyevare you serious? forget titles for a second, was Senna extracting speed from a mildly competitive in no way championship contender lotus not spectacular enough for you? did you not see what seena did in 1993? prost in 86? you seem to be trying to find excuses to justify everything that Vettel has achieved as equal to the greats – stop trying dude, it is what it is. Time will put vettel in his place, and it will put that red bull of his in perspective. Q: name another car that has dominated the sport 4 years in a row?

        1. Q: name another car that has dominated the sport 4 years in a row?

          @me262 I would say that in my lifetime no constructor has dominated the sport 4 years in a row (I’m not so hot on pre late 70s knowledge).

          I would measure this by saying that to show domination a constructor would have its drivers ranked 1st and 2nd in the championship during the year. This has happened several times, most recently with Ferrari (2002 and 2004) and previously with Williams and McLaren in the 80s and first half of the 90s

          I don’t believe that the achievements of Prost, Senna, Piquet and Mansell are diminished by the fact that they all benefited from clearly dominant cars, so why should Vettel’s achievements in a car which has arguably been less dominant be considered any less?

          1. @jerseyf1 at one stage or another, senna was partnered by prost, prost was in turn partnered by mansell at ferrari who was in turn partnered by piquet at williams when williams were the car to beat. And lets not forget that Lauda stole a championship of Prost by half a point (?) when they were team mates at mclaren. It was a game of being in the right seat at the right time to pick up a championship. All in all they stole championships off each other. senna 84-87? 92-93? prost 8-2 84? 86-87 90? mansell 82-85? 88-91? dominant cars you say? the achievements did not flatter these drivers. God knows what they would have achieved if they had the car of the field in 90% of the races they competed and did not have to share it with any of their fellow rivals!

            who has vettel partnered? webber and soo to be ricciardo. I was one that wanted kimi to partner vettel..at least we couldve seen 2 drivers fight it out for wins? Vettel wants to break all the records, he dosent seem to want to do anything else but bleed this opportunity for all its worth. And seems like red bull are happy to maintain his monopoly of the team and the sport by promoting ricciardo which will inherit webbers seat..and good on him, he’ll be the best for his fans but he obviously thinks that championships and records will not automatically make him the greatest

      2. @einariliyev senna competed against prost for 2 years with the all conquering mclaren: who has vettel competed against? webber and ricciardo? o_O

    4. @flig Schumacher maybe it’s better to look back to 2012.

      At some places, he’s head and shoulders above the rest, regardless of the situation. HE manages himself very well, and with a great tool around him, he can deliver everytime. Something the others don’t do.

      I’m already rating him a true great. He’s just unbelievable.

      1. with a great tool around him, he can deliver everytime.

        It will be interesting to see how he copes when the great tool is replaced by Ricciardo :p

    5. Ummm, he already moved from a race winning team to one that have never won nor had pole, and bought them to glory. He then moved to another team that had never won nor had pole, and bought them to glory too. *** how many teams does he have to do this too??? This from a Webber fan!

      1. While I understand the sentiment surrounding drivers having the best car, or even a dominant one, the fact remains that almost always the WDC winner had the WCC winning car. So I think it comes down to the flavor of each season and what took place. To me there is a sense that SV has not really had to work as hard as some others for his WDC’s but I don’t take it so far as to say it is JUST the car. It is never JUST one ingredient.

        @flig wants to see what SV could do in a non-Newey car, and yet the likes of JV get slammed for risking his career post-WDC to help start a new team which was always going to be a huge undertaking with extremely tough odds but which would have carried the ultimate in glory had they been able to pull it off.

        I honor JV’s single WDC over MS’s 7 in illegal Benetton’s and decided-in-the-boardroom Ferrari’s any day. It’s about the flavor. MS took all the advantages he had and was still a boor on the track. Not my cup of tea.

    6. @flig

      I know I’ll get bashed, but I’m still not convinced. Schumacher didn’t convince me completely either until his 6th or 7th title, despite all the amazing numbers. So Vettel has a long way to go

      For a minute, I thought that you were an FIA commissioner incharge of assigning greatness to F1 drivers! I mean, seriously, people need to stop talking as if drivers have an obligation to convince fans on how good they are. In that case, none of the past champions like Senna, Prost, Mansell, Piquet, Schumacher are good enough coz there will always be someone saying that one is better than another.

      Why cant we give it a rest and appreciate each of their acheivements? Its only select few who earn the right to race a F1 car. And its only 1 who deserves to be a champion each year. Doesnt matter which car they are in or who is the Technical Director. And surely, luck has nothing to do with it.

      Well, I compare oranges to apples as well, so deal with it.

      Thats really smart! Cheers!

      1. @1abe for a minute i thought you were the forum police!

        people need to stop talking as if drivers have an obligation to convince fans on how good they are

        and some people need to let other people express themselves in the subject that they so desire, so long as it conforms to the rules of this forum. These people posess the freedom to to move on to the next thread if if disecting and commenting on Formula 1 drivers is not of their interest

        Why cant we give it a rest and appreciate each of their acheivements?

        you want us all to think the same? do you also want everyone looking the same too?

  6. He might not be bored, but I am. Once again, I just went to sleep after a few laps because of the time zone difference.

    1. I am so glad you let us know. I couldn’t go to bed without knowing this vital piece of information.

      1. I gave my sleep during this race a 10

        1. @me262 HAHAHA! awesome comment!

    2. @flig: despite @mnmracer sarcastic and disrespectful reply to you, the same sentiments (boredom) were expressed by quite a few other F1Fanatics who partook in the live chat/discussion during the race.

      Vettel and RBR’s dominance is real and their mastery complete and I can acknowledge the team’s sporting prowess, but as a fan, watching Seb suffocate another GP isn’t compelling anymore. If this continued for three or (gasp) four more years, I think I’d probably not bother watching races live.

      1. @joepa 3 years ? I am giving this 1 more year to be like 2012 or else I am out .

      2. I blame my boredom on the rest of the teams’ strategist doing the same. There were no attempts at undercutting from anybody in the midfield, Guti, whom I root for, went for his ‘mid stint’ in the softer tires? why? that was only get him to where he started.

        I think that rules should promote diversity. Make the cars different by having some variable track widths, floor heights, wing spans, and making them interdependent. So the underside of the car is really what’s been the be-all in aerodynamics? Ok have it, but then you have to have draggier elements to compensate.

    3. the question more to the point may be: is Newey getting bored for all his success? Newey said on a recent interview that he always wanted to go and design hulls in the americas cup…wonder how close he is? surely unlike vettel, surely his urge to move on to the next challenge must be increasing relative to all his latest success?

      1. I respect and admire both of them, but I think that F1 will be more entertaining with Adrian Newey and Ross Brawn gone. These two are so good in what they do that they’ve been taking turns in winning everything in the past 2 decades. 92-94, 96-98, 2010-2013 Adrian Newey took the Constructors trophy home, while in 95, 99-2004 and 2009, Brawn took it home. Only between 2005 and 2008 teams that didn’t have either of them won, since 1992. That’s engineering for ya.

        1. @flig While they’re at it they could get rid of all of the good drivers too, hardly anyone except the best drivers have won a race in the last 15 years and it’s clearly unfair and unexciting.

          PS – surely for consistency it should be Rory Byrne who “took it home” in the Ferrari and Benetton years in which case Alonso should be a shoe-in for next year’s championship?

          1. I never said they should leave. I’m just saying I think the competition will be more balanced when they do. Like when Schumacher stopped winning. We were having fun until the Red Bull age came along.

    4. Similar, except due to the time zone difference I went to work.

    5. @flig I fell asleep too…

      and I’m just one hour ahead of Texas.

  7. I am a Button fan, but I do agree that he was underwhelming throughout Quali and the Race.

    I had high hopes for him after showing promise during practice, so to be so far off the pace of Perez was quite a shock.
    It’s a shame; I know he could have done better. For some reason, he just didn’t.

    1. Maybe Perez was extra fired up because of his home crowd and um….because he was fired . But still , Yep Button was pretty desperate in the end and in the interview he said he needs to sort himself out.

      1. In the last 4 races ? Perez is one more race to end up beating him in Qualy, best result is shared by both and if not for exploding tires, some learning mistakes, bad luck the points will be also level.
        I guess the main Button concern is Magnussen is mega super ultra quick so he has the task of leading the team out of this hole, is unbeleivable they going to give him one more chance after terrible “number one” season, hopefully they won’t make the car fit his style ever again, he did better on Hamiltons cars. Or simply he just wish the lotus seat that my end up with Perez !

  8. Why do people keep insisting on making others call Vettel “a great”, by pointing at the cold numbers and statistics?
    Term refers to an absolutely individual impression, and it’s like trying to convince someone how they feel, when they simply feel this or that way. There’s no right or wrong way when it comes to feeling something. You feel what you feel and you can’t help it. It’s like telling someone how they should feel about something and what tastes good to them and what not.

    1. Why do people keep insisting on making others call Vettel “not a great”?

    2. There’s a difference in saying; “I don’t think Vettel is that great.” and saying; “Vettel isn’t that great.”

      1. they mean the same thing to me

    3. well, the fact of the matter is that people don’t like the winners. I remember in 2005, people were saying Kimi deserved it more. In 2006, Schumacher deserved it. In 2007, Hamilton deserved it. In 2008, it was Massa. In 2009, Vettel, in 2010, Alonso, or Webber..

      And so on… But facts are cold beasts. Greatness isn’t measured with numbers, rather with actions. And if we look at Vettel’s 5 and a bit years in the sport, I’d say he’s done a lot in such a short time. The cold numbers tell us that he really is one of the greats. And depending on how you look at it, he’s also done a lot to be called one of the greats, regardless of his tally of wins, or poles.

      I used to say Alonso was the best driver in the grid. And it’s not been a long time since I changed my views and point to the german instead.

      1. @fer-no65 it’s not that people don’t like winners (although they hate Maldonado, and he’s a GP-winner). It’s that people don’t like monotonous domination that’s boring by the fourth year…

        1. And the arrogance in which he does it. I disliked Schumacher for a long time for the exact same reason.

          1. @trido

            “And the arrogance in which he does it”

            This is one of the objections to Vettel I just don’t get. I don’t see where he’s arrogant, not to the level of many other drivers on the grid. What were his comments after the win on the victory lap? “I love you guys. We need to remember this, enjoy this moment, because it’s not going to last forever.” (or words to that effect). Not sure how that shows any arrogance.

            I love Hamilton, but he can be arrogant at times with comments like “we (Alonso and Hamilton) should be racing at the front, not back in 5th or 6th”. Alonso is hugely arrogant. I think arrogance is a trait of winners. Webber can be hugely arrogant as well. I wouldn’t put Vettel in the top 5 of most arrogant F1 drivers on the grid today. Not by a long shot.

          2. What arrogance is that? That he celebrates? Should he ask forgiveness for winning?

          3. @trido @oletros @mnmracer if i may quote another member (maciek), he hit the nail on the head :

            I still can’t get excited about Vettel winning these four consecutive titles. Nothing against him, but this is not my favourite era of F1 we’re witnessing now. I mean it’s impressive, but it’s impressive like… like a talented band I know I’ll never get into, or something like that. There’s just something too clean and shiny about Vettel and Red Bull. It’s kind of like getting Coldplay when I want some Slayer. Anyhoo, that’s not too pertinent or nothing, but F1 overall just leaves me cold these days. It’s overproduced.

      2. like @joepa said above, i don’t think winning is the problem. For me personally, there is simply no competition for the win. If the top 2 or 3 drivers were battling it out, at least sometimes, that would be nice to see and it would make the race and the wins and look more special (whoever might take them).

        A sport where you know who is going to win by default is no fun at all.

  9. “Vettel not getting bored of runaway race wins”

    Say what you may, but Vettel’s run of 8 wins has been more boring in my opinion than Schumacher’s run of 7 back in 04. The four races starting from Canada 04 through British GP were brilliant that year. Canada and France were exceptionally good in terms of fight for the lead.

  10. Vettel: “It’s not as if I’ve been getting bored.”

    When I was a boy, around 10 or 11, my friends and I raced bikes constantly. We lived on a loop that served as a near perfect race track for our purposes. We did not have cars, motorcycles, carts, just bicycles. And we raced nearly every day for a couple of years. Most kids were about my age, some younger and some older. We had different kinds of bikes and did different amounts laps. Some races were sprints, some endurance. I went on a string of wins that spanned a few months. Even the bigger stronger kids could not beat me. Untouchable, for a while. I never got tired of the winning. Trends are cyclical though. A new kid moved into the neighborhood and beat me soon after. We traded wins for a while and then eventually the races became fewer as we grew out of it and found other things to do.

    The moral of the story, if there is one, I guess, is to enjoy the winning while you can. Even Vettel alluded to that today after his win. I think even he realizes that someday the new kid will move into the neighborhood and things will change.

    1. Cute story

      1. was your bike designed by adrian newey by any chance?

        1. @me262 LOL .. double LOL….triple LOL for the context

        2. was your bike designed by adrian newey by any chance?

          Probably the others were using Pirelli tyres and managing their race pace.

        3. HAHA That was a fantastic comment. Touché good sir/madam.

        4. That was excellent! Glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read it.

    2. did you just make that up?

      1. Thanks for asking. Though I do some writing as part of my profession, this piece was autobiographical. The idea of being bored of winning stirred up this memory.

        1. Ah ok , in that case interesting story…

    3. Nice post @bullmello, and it has 2 lessons – 1. no winning streak goes forever and 2. we never know what might come.

      After 2006 Alonso was going to rack in the championships, after 2007 it was a given that Hamilton would be winning championships on the trot, in 2009 we found out what Ross had been up to in the past 2 years and saw Button master it in the first half of the year, and then we saw Vettel coming, with some growing pains in 2010.

      I think there are enough new kids coming to have something to look forward to really, despite Red Bull being able to outspend even Ferrari, and have a great team together with Vettel, Newey leading it. Lotus has gotten close enough on a quarter of the budget, showing the money helps but its not everything.

      As he has done before, Newey will want to look for new challenges, and Vettel might want to do the same. And there are loads of engineers who might just be waiting for their chance to draw up a car to surprise us.

      1. @bascb – Exactly. All these assumptions are made, and then reality hits. I’m not a Vettel fan per se, but even he has the long term view to say let’s remember these times.

        2014 should be a real game changer. Even though it is entirely possible the Red Bull/Vettel/Newey juggernaut could continue, we don’t really know. Something new, interesting and different will happen in the future. We shall see…

    4. I have a similar story. When I was younger, me and my friends would play the playstation for hours and hours. Games like gran turismo, tekken, goldeneye, and more. After a bit, I was the best at those three particular games (the main ones we played). It got to the point where, playing tekken four or gt4 on ps2, I could only get people who didnt know how good I was to play me at them. After a couple of fights/races, they would decide to never play me again. Even worse, everyone (we had a fair size group of friends by grade 12) would moan if i put tekken or gt on, knowing how boring it would be, and that no one would want to play someone they knew they couldn’t beat. I guess the point is excitement is borne from the unknown. There is a direct correlation between boredom and predictability I believe. And, while red bulls domination isn’t what i find frustrating about f1 these days (fia I’m looking at you), a lot of people will get tired of watching races that are a foregone conclusion. (Personally, if cars could follow close, fight hard, and race wheel to wheel, nose to tail, I would be happy, regardless of who’s winning. Although, as a ferrari fan I’d be even happier if ferrari got their act together)

      1. @fangio85 – During the years of Schumacher’s domination it did get a bit tedious at times, especially since I supported other drivers. As a fan of F1 since the 1960s I knew it couldn’t last forever and it didn’t. Same as now, things change and as then I find other events, moments and drivers to celebrate in the meantime.

        Agree on Ferrari. While I have always appreciated them for their legendary history, I haven’t rooted for them as a team very often. Since Kimi is back next season I will be cheering for Ferrari to challenge Red Bull and it would be gratifying to see them more competitive. They have hired some talented people, let’s hope they can improve.

  11. When did spatial awareness stop being a driver skill? Perhaps Sutil should try and bear in mind who he is racing at any given time …

    1. ask Trulli about Sutil and spatial awareness @prisoner-monkeys ;-)

  12. I’m glad the USGP had over 110, 000 in the second year, I was there and I was really impressed how people embraced the event, even the fans that don’t know much about F1 were still excited and looking forward to the race, it’s just a shame that the race couldn’t be as good as last year’s but everyone seemed to be very pleased, I hope it stays for many years to come.

    1. @mantresx did you get to said hi to Chacho, Adrian y Tornello ? :D (j/k)

      Hope you have fun :D

      1. @celeste lol no I didn’t have a paddock pass, but I did see all the drivers on the stage in the autographs session and a lot of mechanics and engineers (even ran into Gary Andrson) in downtown Austin

        About the race, ok it wasn’t a classic but I didn’t expect it to be, so I did enjoy the atmosphere and the weekend as a whole.
        Now to save money for Mexico in 2015 (fingers crossed)

        1. @mantresx Maybe I can´t go to Mexico 2015, do you think it will be cheaper tan Austin?

          Glad you have fun… did you get any autograph?

        2. @celeste Yes, definitely Mexico would be cheaper, not necessarily in ticket prices but in accommodation, transport, food, etc also there’s much more to do and see (I’ve also been there as a tourist)

          Autographs? I got the Caterham, Lotus and Williams’ drivers, not because I’m a fan but because those lines were shorter :p

  13. Enough with the “boring” comments already… I’m bored reading all the “boring” whinges here with the same repetitive arguments. Stop watching if you are bored and do something else.

    1. I did, Strictly Come Dancing was great!

  14. Finn Grin for the Win !!!

  15. I am getting bored of stupid questions by the media.
    “Are you going for win number 9 next week?” either this, or the usual line of questioning is “please regurgitate your team’s press release”.
    But I liked Peter Windsor’s question about whether he sets his car up for doughnuts. I bet he does really – turns all the switches to 0.

    Sauber have the opportunity of an immense line-up next year: Hulkenberg and Perez. They’d have to be completely stupid, or blinded by greed, to turn that down.

    1. Or entirely cash-strapped.

      Did anyone else get the impression that Hulkenberg’s “well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” line to Lee McKenzie; when told Kaltenborn had said there was a drive at Sauber for him; was delivered with the same tone as his reply when he found out the team had changed his brakes without telling him?

    2. But I liked Peter Windsor’s question about whether he sets his car up for doughnuts

      @tomsk if (as seems likely) Vettel does win the last race of the year I think it would be funny for Rocky to come on the radio on his slowdown lap with something like “Engine mode to doughnuts please Sebastian”

      1. Engine Mode D-0, or is it D-O?

      2. @jerseyf1

        Haaaaahahahahah! That would be awesome!

        “Well done Sebastien. Torque settings to max. We need four full doughnuts, then pick up marbles and bring it home.”

  16. One of the reasons I’d say I don’t rate Vettel as no. 1 is also to do with the lack of ‘fuel adjusted pole etc’, back when you had the odd car randomly going for pole/glory through less fuel on board. This pushed the best cars into the pack where the risk of breaking your front wing etc is much higher. Not that Vettel can do anything about that, it’s not like he’s going to change the rules to disadvantage himself! This is why Alonso goes 1st, through stunning consistency despite all the risk of consistently having a poor car in qualifying/starting in the middle of the pack, and also just wiping the floor with Massa who I rate around the same as Webber.

  17. I have a suggestion. To help the FIA alleviate the charges of boring races.
    As it is obvious that there is a huge gulf opening up in the World Championship the FIA should re-introduce the Jim Clark Trophy (for drivers) and the Colin Chapman Trophy (for constructors).
    Originally intended for naturally aspirated engines struggling against the mighty turbo engines, this could certainly be adapted to work here and now.
    It would help encourage teams and drivers, that do not have access to an Adrian Newey designed car, and give all of them some table scraps to fight for and their respective fans something to cheer.
    (For those of you that do not know what those trophies are for, check out Formula One 1987).

    1. Lol, well I think the FIA could at least start by getting rid of the gadgety tires and DRS since those were meant to alleviate boring races and yet haven’t…therefore have likely done more harm than good.

      Here’s hoping that the shakeup of the regs for next year sees a change in the current ‘usual’ order of things although I suspect that as long as they remain addicted to downforce the processions shall continue even if by some chance it isn’t RBR leading.

  18. Being called great has a lot to do with being inspiring. Doesn’t matter if it was this or that era, people call drivers with 0, 1, 2, 3 or however many titles great because those drivers simply achieved something that people find inspiring, or against all odds or anything like that, but I think the point is, it needs to be inspiring.

    What Vettel and Red Bull did from being Jaguar to winning a title is a great feat, but after that, for me, it doesn’t matter if Vettel has 1 or 4 titles.
    For the rest of the time, he seemed more like a guy you wish someone would overcome against all odds, than someone you’d find inspirational.

    For the sake of having a better idea why people just don’t find what Vettel is doing so inspiring, imagine this.

    One of the reasons the book “Lord of the Rings” is so great is because it talks about all the things that Vettel is NOT doing since 2010.
    I mean, imagine, Gandalf going to Frodo, giving him a ring and telling him he must throw it in the fiery pits of Mount Doom. And then Frodo just proceeds going straight there, no worries for his life, totally invincible, beating all of the Sauron’s biggest evils with one move of his pinky finger, just walking straight into Mordor through the main gate while arrows bounce off of him, grabbing Sauron by the nose and pushing him to the ground, and just throwing the ring in the fire without much hustle. It could be written on 10 pages and it would be anything but electrifying or inspiring. It would be a pointless tale of a forgone conclusion.
    That’s precisely why people don’t feel they are witnessing anything special on a personal, human-story level. It’s an amazingly efficient war machine, but it’s not really relateable.

    But on the other hand, I don’t know why are Vettel’s fans so troubled with that. It is a competition after all and you wanna make sure you are in the best possible position to beat your opposition. Greatness and inspiration are more artistic values. Each driver wants to win as comfortably as possible. That’s why they are there. But myths and legends are born from a trying situation that test the very spirit and will of the man who faces seemingly insurmountable odds.

    That’s why Kimi captured imagination of so many people back in 2003 or Alonso in 2006 and 2012. That’s why such a story was created around Hamilton in 2007 or Massa in 2008. Or even back in the 80s around Mansell or Senna.

    But Vettel has 4 titles and he should be pretty happy about it. He doesn’t wanna make it any harder for himself, and no other driver would want that either, but you can’t have it all.

    Either you are gonna make records or legends.

    1. One of the worst analogies I have read, well, I think that all count to dismiss what Vettel is doing.

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