By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Those who
might be wondering where my regular Formula One race reports have gone since
August’s dull and dreary Belgian Grand Prix, it is because my interest in the
sport has waned on recent results. I’ve only seen one of the last four races
and the chances of deciding to sleep and miss tomorrow morning’s Indian Grand
Prix are relatively high.
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| Winning has become the norm for Sebastian Vettel in 2013 |
Another pole
position, another win and another world championship loom for Red Bull’s German
superstar Sebastian Vettel (pictured). If he achieves those aims at the Buddah
International Circuit in the morning, it will be his 10th win of the
season, his sixth in a row and a fourth successive drivers’ championship, with
his team looking in a strong position to wrap up the constructors’ title too.
His recent
dominance hasn’t been good for the sport and that is a fair comment. However,
should fans accept that we are just watching one of Grand Prix’s ultimate
legends carve his way through the records into greatness or do you feel that
Sebastian Vettel is boring? (BBC 2011 Vettel video below)
There is no
doubt that Vettel is a remarkable racing driver. 2013 is only his seventh full
season in F1 and that means he will have been the title winner in over half of
the campaigns he has competed. He has it all in his locker with the sheer speed
over one lap backed up by the prowess to overtake, conserve the car and take
the points if required, set blistering laps and turning this trademark into artistic
motion, plus he goes around with a smile and a cool sense around the paddock –
something evidently missing from Michael Schumacher in his prime.
Those who say
that Vettel is only winning because he is in the best car need to eat their
words. He is in the best car and this season’s Red Bull machinery is way better
than any of the opposition have to offer. However if it was that good, his
team-mate Mark Webber would finish second all the time too. They only have two
1-2 finishes this season – one last time out in Japan and the other was that
stormy day in Malaysia when Vettel ignored team orders to win. The German is
able to get the absolute maximum out of the car and the Pirelli tyres and that
is why he is often at the front and winning races so regularly. That is the
skill of a great driver. (BBC 2012 Vettel video below)
He has
developed close relationships with the other key figures in the Red Bull team,
team principal Christian Horner, advisor Helmut Marko and design supremo Adrian
Newey and he has a firm grip on the way Pirelli work. When the Italian
manufacturer were coming into the sport three years ago, Sebastian was the only
driver to come and visit their headquarters, greet the newcomers and get to
understand and know how the configuration would work under the new supplier. That
isn’t an unfair advantage. That is the knowledge, research and dedication going
into his work to ensure he stays on top. You have to admire him for that.
The constant
booing of him on the podium this season has been frankly disgusting to
overhear. Of course fans thought slightly differently of him after Malaysia and
he lost some respect for that. I’ll admit that I cheered when his gearbox
packed up at Silverstone forcing a rare DNF but that was out of spectacle for
the race and to see a different winner, not for any of his Sepang actions. The
fans pay the money to come and spectate and if they don’t decide to respect the
winner, then what are they doing at the circuit? They should go and find
something else to do on a Sunday afternoon if they can’t do anything better
than just to boo. Any backlash from Kuala Lumpur ended months ago. Unless you
are a Mark Webber fan, accept it and move on.
A word has to
be said about the opposition too. They have self-destructed this season.
Fernando Alonso’s relationship with Ferrari has taken a severe knock after some
comments made in the aftermath of an uncompetitive showing at the Hungarian
Grand Prix, while McLaren’s design team came up with such a pig’s ear of a car,
it destroyed any ambitions Jenson Button had for a title tilt from the opening weekend. Perhaps Martin Whitmarsh better be careful not to call Vettel 'the crash kid' and focus on getting his designers back on track. Lewis Hamilton’s mind is often questioned as once again, he isn’t the same
person he is when he is happy and settled with on-off girlfriend Nicole
Scherzinger and Kimi Raikkonen is really in the sport for the money and nothing
else. As funny as Kimi can be on the team radio (clip below), his lack of
dedication and commitment will be shown up next season when he pits
himself up against fellow champion Alonso at Ferrari.
When
Schumacher was winning so much, his brother Ralf made an interesting point at
the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix. When asked about whether it was boring that his
brother kept taking the chequered flag first, his view was: “He is the best driver and he deserves to
win, that’s the end of it. And it isn’t boring that he keeps winning, it is
boring that no-one seems to be able to do anything about it, drivers’ maybe and
cars for sure.”
That is
exactly how I feel about the current situation. The drivers can only do as well
as the machinery they have around them will allow them to – as Button can vouch
for in 2013. The simple fact is Red Bull’s rivals have all built mediocre or
inconsistent models that might be very quick on occasional weekends (Ferrari in
China, Mercedes GP in Monaco and Hungary) but are not consistent enough
throughout the season. That is why Red Bull and Vettel have such a clear advantage
over the rest of the field.
So in answer
to the earlier question, Sebastian Vettel is not boring, he is just a great
driver who is putting his name alongside the likes of Fangio, Schumacher,
Senna, Prost and Clark as among the best to have ever driven a Formula One
racing car.
What I will
say though is the spectacle in 2013 has been really boring to watch. I wouldn’t
mind so much Vettel winning all the time if the racing down the field was exciting and action-packed. That hasn’t been the case this season and stories
off-the-track like the team orders debacle in Malaysia and Pirelli’s exploding
tyres at Silverstone have taken the firm headlines rather than any entertaining
racing. The sport has become far too sanitised, with tyres not good enough to
handle the variety of track surfaces and temperatures and the KERS/DRS
combination which is making passing no longer an art but a formality. If you
want to see regular overtaking nowadays, take a trip down the M1 and you’ll see
better passing. With the new 2014 regulations of V6 engines and heavy fuel
saving coming in only likely to make the spectacle even worse, these are
difficult times for the passionate F1 fan who would like to see a better show
but are unlikely to be rewarded.
There is more
chance of Ed Miliband showing
the touch of the common person than Sebastian Vettel not wrapping up his fourth
championship on Sunday morning. Let’s hope there is some decent racing to make
the occasion more of a damp squib, although I wouldn’t be rushing to put those
alarm clocks on ready for the race in India.
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