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Brawn’s challenge to Vettel – an invitation? (11 posts)

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raymondu999 said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Brawn has been saying recently that Vettel’s biggest test will be when he’s not in the fastest car and how he can help pull the team out of the doldrums and build a good car – http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95260

I don’t think that was just a simple comment. Brawn praises his abilities and talent; and also his personality and how he is under pressure. The one thing I noted was that despite Brawn saying the test would be when he’s in a car that is not the best; he makes no mention of Seb’s on track talents; but rather on him saving a team and helping develop a car

Brawn’s a smart cookie. I think Brawn is challenging and daring him openly to head over to MGP and be their Messiah

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BasCB said 1 year, 8 months ago:

@raymondu999 I guess when comparing Vettel with Schumacher, and saying how he could beat his records, it makes perfect sense for Brawn to say so.

In the end, I do not think its Schumachers speed that convinced Mercedes to approach him at the end of 2009 but his ability to push the team to success.
Its the job DC and Webber did for Red Bull, and in a sense Häkkinnen was part of at McLaren and Lauda and Prost were part of at McLaren earlier. Schumacher saw it happening at Bennetton and was part of it, and then was one of the big success factors at Ferrari. Some of the older champions like Hill Sr., Brabham and McLaren must have had a lot of that skill as well.

So I do think its fair to want that to call someone as great a racer as them and compare to Schu’s level. Alonso is doing a bit of work like that at Ferrari now as well.

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raymondu999 said 1 year, 8 months ago:

I’m not saying it’s unfair. I’m saying that I feel that he is daring Vettel to come over to MGP

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PJA said 1 year, 8 months ago:

When I read that article I wondered, if Vettel ever did want to be like Schumacher and go to a former great team and help build them up where would he go?

Of the big name teams in F1 Ferrari and McLaren have had championships in the past decade and are currently still top teams so they wouldn’t really meet the criteria of building a team up.

I think the obvious choices would be Mercedes or Williams.

Williams would fit the bill in terms of a former great team who have not won a championship for too long, but don’t think all the other resources needed would be in place to take them back to the top.

Although the Mercedes team won the championships when they were Brawn they haven’t looked like winning since then. They are often called the German national team and if Schumacher doesn’t manage to get them winning races before he retires for good perhaps the temptation will be enough if Vettel wants a new challenge when his current Red Bull contract finishes. As a works team they should also have the same resources as other top teams.

However if Red Bull remain competitive I wouldn’t be surprised if Vettel stays with them for a lot longer than his current deal. He came through their young driver program and you could say Vettel’s ties to Red Bull are similar to Hamilton’s with McLaren, and there has been discussions on this forum before about the likelihood of Hamilton staying at McLaren for the rest of his career.

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raymondu999 said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Yes; that’s why I feel it’s a veiled “come on in. Helping us will help you raise your stock!” from Ross. I get the feeling that Vettel is quite loyal as a person. Hamilton used to strike me the same way but I think the Hamilton we see this year is not the same one that said he would only ever race for McLaren.

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Deleted User said 1 year, 8 months ago:

I disagree with raymondu999 for saying Ross Brawn is trying to dear Vettel. I think he is saying the truth.The question is if Vettel has driven the MGP W02,would he (vettel) have done a better job than Rosberg or Schumacher?

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raymondu999 said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Huh? Brawn says he is very good on the track. What Brawn is challenging in the article is his ability to build a team and help develop a car

I get what you’re saying, but if you read his words, there is no doubt the focus is on team building and car development.

Brawn has historically never doubted Seb, and Mercedes has also historically wanted Seb. Mercedes made a play for him at the end of 2007 (with McLaren) to replace Alonso, and when Seb refused, Heikki stepped in.

Honda/Brawn iirc made a play for him for 2009, and again for 2010. Don’t forget that before Red Bull had it’s own team, Vettel was consistently present in the Ferrari pit garage as Schumacher’s guest

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 8 months ago:

I think Brawn is challenging and daring him openly to head over to MGP and be their Messiah

Except that Vettel is under contract at Red Bull through 2014, and Mercedes can get into race-winning form by then.

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raymondu999 said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Yes I’m saying he’s daring Vettel to renege on his contract; or at least not extend

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Girts said 1 year, 8 months ago:

I ain’t sure if this is the invitation but there are some other people who think this Mercedes might be a future option for Vettel. Joe Saward wrote this in his blog:

Red Bull has made it fairly clear that they want a youngster in alongside SebVet, presumably on the basis that one day someone is going to make Sebastian an offer he cannot refuse. If that happens I suggest it will be a Mercedes offer in about 2015…

Every successful driver wants to find new challenges sooner or later. Vettel’s contract with Red Bull runs out in 2014. Alonso has a contract with Ferrari until 2016 and it is unlikely that Maranello team will sign Vettel alongside Alonso. Mercedes is a German team, which probably would mean something to Vettel as well. It is also a team with high ambitions. Taking all this into account, a future partnership between Vettel and Mercedes makes perfect sense.

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smifaye said 1 year, 8 months ago:

I don’t see any reason at the moment why Vettel wouldn’t one day drive for Mercedes, German team, German engine, German driver. The only problem at the moment obviously is the lack of a car that is capable of winning races.

I think Brawn is pretty well placed to talk about how talented Vettel is, apart from the fact he hasn’t worked with him day in/out obviously but he was there for Schumachers rise and it is inevitable that people will draw similarities between the two drivers.

At the moment Vettel I can’t see anyway that Vettel would move from Red Bull and will probably even see another extension on his contract past 2014. His team is focused on him, he fits into their “style” and has won them two championships back to back.

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