Stats, speed and success spur on Vettel

i dont care what anyone says,but if hamilton or alonso was that redbull they would wipe the floor with,he is quick in clean air but very jittery in traffic,the move he made on alonso in italy was good but if that was hamilton,lets put it this way he wasnt going to get through,mark webber for a team mate is skewing things a bit i think,webber was never one the drivers who was tipped to be a big hit,the fastest car for the past 2 and half season and vs vettel it is well a humilating record,hamilton defended against him with a massive chunk of downforce gone for over 25 laps(apparently rubber from the track got wedged in his front wing this was the reason vettel got him so easily)

congrats for the championships but mclaren need to pull their finger out ,as well as ferrari

obviously a very good driver. but i feel it will be harder for him next season as the rules will be the same next year which will probably mean mclaren and ferrari will be more competitive, and that i think mark webber will be closer to him

no to sky

Not overly interested in what's happening in 2012 as I won't now be watching it or half of it anyway.

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We all have to admire this guy; he really is a credit to his team, to himself and family. Who's to say he can't beat his compatriot's record, he's young and ambitious and determined to win.

"Ambition is made of sterner stuff" I believe the Bard said that somewhere, and Vettel is certainly showing us he's made of sterner stuff - and with ambition galore, he should realise his dream before hanging up his driving helmets.

Fully expecting a closer title race next season, but only a fool would write off Vettel doing it again. The very fact that his mistakes are highlighted shows how little he makes all year - practice is just that and he uses those sessions perfectly.

People seem to overlook how intelligent Vettel is and how important that factor is in F1 - it's a vital component of the overall team package. People banging on about the car's superiority frequently make arguments of the most simplistic variety - but the gaps in qualifying have not been that big and other teams have had good race pace all year.

Take a step back and acknowledge one of the sport's greats. Good blog Andrew.

I'd love to watch him try to break these records but I will only be able to watch half of the races. Whats the point?

Never really considered it before but Schumacher has far more wins than he has poles and I'm sure it's the same for most of the other drivers on the grid with a few wins to their name.
Vettel has more poles than wins which I think backs up this view that he can't mix it with other cars in traffic as wins are rare when he's not on pole (normally due to other drivers misfortune).

Interesting comments from SB that tell us a little more about his character. Little point in us thinking about his future driving achievements though, when thanks to the BBC deal with SKY, the licence fee payers are to be prevented from seeing enjoying them in any case!

Instead of a raft of features on what has happened in past races it would be good to hear now what the BBC is now proposing to do to get out of the SKY mess they have themselves created.

L_Mazzini - Interesting point regarding number of poles versus race wins... however there was a guy called Ayrton Senna with 65 poles and only 41 wins so perhaps that's not a very accurate indicator afterall.

Well done to a friendly, talented and supremely fast young man. Despite beating the Brits for most of the season, and running Jenson off the road in Japan, I still like him. Therefore he's already beating Schumacher in my book.

I look forward to reading about many of his continued successes next year... because I won't be paying Murdoch to watch them.

I think Vettel is nice guy and very good driver.There is BUT, last year both drivers were almost identical in thier speed and qualifying, But this year it seem vettle got the upper hand,why?, is it because of the new tyres or there is something fishy about it. One thing I know is that if your team wants to lose you lose, if the team wants one driver to get the upper hand all the time, they can fix that. Also the proof is in the pudding; Button all of sudden is beating hammi, some one who is not even in the same league as top drivers. Take my word for it the remaining grand prixs, button will prevail, they even made special chasse for him to beat hammi, while hammi progress was stagnant. SHAME ON MCLAREN FOR NOT BEING FAIR TO BOTH DRIVERS.

Gotta hand it to him, he certainly deserves it, and along with Jenson Button and Mark Webber, he's one of the most likeable guys on the grid. Well done Seb, keep winning, keep smiling.

Yes to Sky. I love the BBC coverage, but they don't have it all next year - it's a done deal. Another sport bites the dust on BBC. Soon it'll just be the boat race left!

So, bring on the Sky, lets' hope it's even better.

Senna had more poles than wins in his career and no one questions his ability.Seems to me most people who say Vettel can't race just don't like the guy and whatever he does is wrong. He is a fabulous driver nice guy and a breath of fresh air in F1. Personally I hope he achieves all his ambitions and there is no reason to think he won't,long live the Vettel finger

I know Senna had more Pole positions than wins, but in a time with such high reliability I really think Vettel should convert more of his Pole positions into wins, that would be the true mark of a racing driver. In my opinion.

#11 dobbio

Dobbio, I do not think you have a true understanding of this sport. Whilst I'm not a particular fan of any driver, I've been following F1 for 30 years, have been to more races than I can remember (some with Pit Lane access) and have raced karts and done a bit of tin tops. Now, in my humble opinion, Button is true class. He was the man to beat in karts, was outstanding in FF & showed true pace in his debut year in F3. A fantastic debut F1 test (I believe this was in a Ligier) showed he had real potential which led to further winter tests with Williams and a race seat. His race pace and delicacy is second to none. He is truly rated by his peers.... even Hammilton. Qualifying pace is not the be all and end all. Prost & Lauda will testify to that (who both won championships when being out qualified by a team mate).

Senna had more poles than wins, sure, but he drove in an era where reliability was far more flaky... who knows what he'd have achieved with 100% reliability?

Vettel is currently capitalising on the fact that he and the Red Bull are the best package in F1 this season. Try as I might I can't bring myself to dislike him either, so he's also one up on much of the F1 field.

@1

But they aren't, and they didn't. Twice. So it's all irrelevant really. Are you saying that Alonso was easy to overtake? I hope not. I also think to say Mark Webber has been humiliated may be excessive. Last season he was the main contender, Vettel coming through late in the day in relation to the season to clinch the title. This season Vettel has clearly understood and dealt with the tyres better it's true but is this not more a pointer to his class as a potential great? He saw what was needed and he adjusted. I think this is an example of someone knowing what he is good at and being very good indeed at that, the same as his ability to extract a pole-lap from his car. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses eg Button being good with his tyre management/smooth style, Hamilton raw pace, Schumacher(pre-retirement) relentless testing etc etc. Prost and Senna were both very different yet both have their own followers.

Maybe we should just feel honoured to be witnessing the dawn of 'possibly' another historical legend(or myth as some may prefer). As mentioned already, he's a credit to the sport, he's a credit to his family, he's interesting to watch on and off track and only time will tell how we'll remember him. It certainly won't be as a rogue that's for sure.

I'm a McLaren fan, I want my team to be the best and I want them to beat Vettel, Alonso... everyone else, but it doesn't stop me applauding Vettel, admiring and perhaps more importantly, respecting his ability and successes, as well as RBR the team. The symbiosis between driver and team there at present is impressive so congratulations to them all for their achievements again this season. You don't get what you don't deserve in top-class competition no matter what the sport. So, I look forward to good, strong, gentlemanly competition next season(Monisha at Sauber excepted of course). And when the points are all tallied up, whoever wins it all, deserves it. Because they were the best that season.

That is all.

Youngest triple world champion: One A. Senna, aged 31. Methinks that record may be broken...

Andrew
Why do your blogs disappear when they get to page 2 then reappear when they have been closed to comments ?
what are you and the BBC trying to cover up

No to Sky

Good evening, Please try and settle this query myself and my girlf friend were having. In formula one you here the terms travelling in dirty or turbulent air, Which is behind the car in front. Which is a negative thing. Yes? but how is getting a tow or in the slipstream which is also behind the car in front become a positive thing and an advantage, Where is the crossover point from the negative to the positive and beneficial.

#20 dirty air is bad but following on a straight to pass is good. The car following loses aero grip when following so the tyres need to work harder and the hot air causes problems for the cars cooling. On the whole it is bad but it is also helpful for a short time, hope this short explanation helps..

Re Seb and 2012 I just hope that RBR remain at or close to the top but don't have the dominance that they have had this year.

No to Sky but I suppose we have no chance now....

@20, evening, it's a negative thing when you want clean airflow and max downforce on your car to stick it to the road when going round corners, positive if you slipstream on the straights as the hole in the air fron the car infront allows you greater top speed when pulling out of the slipstream.

Just like the BBC, it's a positive thing to improve the quality of the F1 coverage, boost audience figures, win Baftas and get a glowing report on value for cost from the BBC Trust. It's a negative thing, take note Babs, to go from Formula 1 coverage to Formula Half coverage forcing people to pay £600 extra per year to get a poor version of what they had before...

Yes to F1, no to F0.5, yes to the BBC F1 forum, yes to RTL with 5Live.

Reports from those inside the paddock are that behind the scenes vettel is demanding, obstinate and ill tetmpered. I don't buy into the "nice guy" protrayal the media laud upon him. His on-camera smiley demenour is very contrived. His gesturing at other drivers (mark webber) and officials (when serving a drive through penalty) is the real sebastian vettel. In a way I'm glad the media have built him up as "holier than thou" because the fall out when he doesn't have the best car and starts getting beat by hamilton and co. consistently is going to be a joy to watch.

Seb is a worthy double world champion, and i think that if we saw the likes of Lewis in a Red Bull dominant car we would not see as many wins, but when we did we would all know about it, Lewis this Lewis that.... Lewis has crashed out so many times when he's had a dominant car, and his attitude honestly stinks at times, back in 07 a new fresh exuberant young man walked into the Mclaren garage and bossed the current back to back world champion (Alonso) we dont see anywhere near as much cool from him now and his arrogance has simply become an irritant, he needs to look over the garage for some advice on racing and overtaking, Jenson has shown the field how to slam it up the inside this season, and i can only really think of a few times where we have seen lewis out-brake or simply undo opponents, but hat's off, it's impressive when he does! Seb is clever and keeps the car on the road and gets the points he can, he is a supreme racer when it comes to it and defends with grace and knows when he is beaten, prime examples are Barcelona, and China respectivley against Lewis. As for attacking, i was there in Monza this year and the Tifosi went crazy as Alonso passed him and he was made to look like a schoolboy when Vettel was simply gobsmacking in the way he attacked he somehow create's a new apex for his car, he will win again and again, and rightfully so, a great guy off the track and providing Mclaren can produce the car next year Jenson and Lewis will fight him until the end and maybe have to drive him off the road!!!

people dont get it, its not man against man, its man+car against man+car, if it was nadal vs murray that is fair and square nadal has much more ability but veteel+car which is faster than others against alosno+ bad car oviously vettel would win its common sense when lewis won he had a equal ferrari chasing him down RBR is killing f1 or shall i say newey is.

Well said 17........I am a mclaren fan and had wished that they had been as efficient as redbull if they had then maybe the title would still be contested, but with a team so close nit and outstanding with there reliability you have to applaud them.
I do think he is a remarkable young man with amazing concentration and vision but all of the team as CH said at the weekend have set a standard not seen by any other team in the pit lane this year. Vettel is a likable lad and I did like enjoy the edition of top gear that he appeared on the only thing I do not like is the 1 finger celebrations .......amazing that thats his only negative on me shows what a good racer/bloke he really is so praise where praise is due.

Mclaren pull your finger out for 2012 and stop us from moaning. :)

Bye BBC and F1crew thanks for no answers to all the questions that have been posted ..........now I need to buy a radio for next season how I begrudge paying for my license :(

Trust me he is not a patch on Fangio. My father took me to see the great man race and it was an experience. Risk taking, skill, bravery, Fangio had it all. This Vettel chap would not have lasted one race in the 30s.

Not sure why this blog is bothering to look to next year, we know F1 in the UK is going to crash and burn even if the BBC manages to massage its viewing figures.

F1 sponsors don't care, CEOs are spending the companies' money so they can have a nice VIP pampering at their expense whilst trotting out the excuse of "marketing" their "brand".

And of course the journalists, they're not going to lose out as a result of this deal, they'll still see all the races and as ever you won't find a single F1 journalist ever criticise Bernie Ecclestone or FOM.

For me F1 is already over. Thanks BBC for destroying F1 in Great Britain and putting your own interests first. Channel 4 wanted F1 but you ran to Sky just so you could claim that "F1 is on the BBC" as if the majority of fans really care about F1 being on the BBC.