F1 F1 - 2013

Don't understand Mark's starts either. In GP the start is everything, so much ground to be made with a good start.

Stinker, remember Mansell in Cart? He surprised a lot of people with his ability.

 

Very nice.....

 

Let's see...of the six drivers who went on record clearly favoring Alonso, three are friends from familiar Spanish-speaking countries (Perez, Gutierrez, and Maldonado), two have been perpetual 2013 bridesmaids with no love lost for Vettel (Webber and Hamilton) and would love nothing more than to get into his head, and the other (Kovalainen) has two whole F1 races {this year} to his credit -- hardly enough experience to form anything other than a subjective opinion.

Sounds like mostly personal alliances and sour grapes to me.

Interesting that the Autoweek author isn't even willing to put his name on this drivel.

 

To be fair, Kovalainen has done more than 100 F1 races since 2007, though only 2 were this year.

I don't think anyone knows the answer to the Vettel-Alonso question. I have been very impressed with some of Alonso's drives this year, showing true grit when things weren't going his way, but as Vettel hasn't been in that position, who knows if he would have been as impressive?

 

Hard to compare, who knows if the Red Bull car would have been as good if it had been built around Alonso or if the Ferrari would have been better if it had been built around Vettel....

Both are dang fine drivers.

 

Yes hard to compare. Obviously both are supremely talented. That being said I think Alonso's race craft is better. He got results from a car that was an underdog.

 

Hard say who is better really. When you make it to F1, you've hit the pinnacle of driving fast. In order to make your car go fast, however, the driver has to work very closely with the designers and the engineers to maximize whatever to get the car to respond better. In 2013, the Redbull made a noticeable upgrade in performance after the break. That means, to me, team and driver worked very closely and hard together. Up until then, the top 2 to 4 teams were very close.

I think Lotus did a good job of attempting to keep up with the Redbulls, but frankly, Ferrari looks like they packed it in and left Alonso in a lurch for the rest of the season. The fans should have been booing Ferrari, not Vettel.

Reports of Vettel staying in the garage into the night to help the mechanics pack up their equipment before going out to celebrate their win as a team tells me Vettel participates in the team and is not just the driver. Even after a breakdown of his car, Vettel stayed after the race to help figure out what happened.

As for Alonso, he made some magnificent starts of races, and maximizes what the Ferrari can give him. I would say they are both pretty even in skill, with Vettel, perhaps working a bit harder to understand the car he is blessed with and working to improve it throughout the season. Alonso, being frustrated with an underperforming car, gave us a great season with what he had.

As for the Malaysian GP, I felt Vettel passed Webber because, if he didn't, he was in danger of being passed by Hamilton. Hamilton was within 1 second behind Vettel outside of the DRS zones. Within the DRS zones, Vettel sped up and got close to Webber to avoid being passed. After Vettel made the infamous pass on Webber, everybody backed off. Webber needed to go a bit faster and I'm sure Vettel would have let him stay in the lead. Frankly, if you turn down your engine and expect to be gifted the win after only halfway through the race, I agree with Vettel, you don't deserve to win. You've ripped off all the racing fans who spent big money to watch a Formula 1 grand prix race.

My opinion (if that matters to anybody) is that Vettel won because he worked harder than anybody else and took the necessary risks to gain that advantage. The second half of the season, did anybody else notice how well he preserved the tires. He was the only driver to have an extra set of tires to start a race with. He got 13 laps off the supersofts in Korea, where everybody else was getting 5 laps in practice. In Brazil, he was the only driver to go out with slicks (in the rain) in FP1 and got valuable data for the team, and still managed have the 3rd best lap time.

I'm usually an underdog supporter. I would like to see Caterham move up the rankings and perhaps Sauber and Williams become more competitive with the top teams.

I look forward to next season...

ostcount

 

I would most like to see Williams improve, though I would similarly like to see Caterham get in the $$$$$ in 2014. I'd personally love to see Mercedes and Force India fighting it out for 10th place, but that's unlikely. I have nothing against Sauber. Good team with potential. Someone needs to figure out a solution to ending Red bull domination.

 

Just received an e-mail update from racer.com:

Pastor Maldonado to Lotus! I smell a Venezuelan money infusion.

Ross Brawn out at Mercedes! This was expected, as I recall.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I was figuring that would happen, now confirmed.

 

Whilst the children might not know him from Adam's house cat (not kitty), the parents and most importantly the press sure do, so having a person of Button's stature participate in an event such as this, brings much needed attention to those in need of help...

Well done Jenson!

 

Schumacher's take!

From motorsports:


Dec.2 (GMM) Michael Schumacher has described Mark Webber's performance alongside dominant world champion Sebastian Vettel this year as "shocking".

Schumacher, Vettel's German compatriot, mentor and friend, said that if any driver is going to beat his tally of 91 wins and seven world titles, he wants it to be the Red Bull star.

The 44-year-old said Vettel's performance in 2013 was particularly impressive.

"Look at his teammate, that's your reference point," Schumacher said.

"I mean, he (Vettel) won all those races, 13 this year I think. Mark Webber, if I'm right, won none in the end. That's pretty shocking.

"I'm glad I'm not his teammate," he smiled.

Meanwhile, as many in the paddock tip Mercedes to have an early advantage over the 2014 field with a superior V6 engine, Schumacher is not so sure.

He thinks Renault-powered Red Bull might continue to dominate.

"I think you shouldn't expect too many changes because of the (new) engine," the former Mercedes driver, and continuing ambassador for the marque, said.

"Aerodynamics always outplays the engine, and that will always be the case in the future," added Schumacher.

"The better car, the better package, will win in the end."

 

The 44-year-old said Vettel's performance in 2013 was particularly impressive.

"Look at his teammate, that's your reference point," Schumacher said.

"I mean, he (Vettel) won all those races, 13 this year I think. Mark Webber, if I'm right, won none in the end. That's pretty shocking.


Pretty much what I've been saying all year, if it was just down to the car like the Alonso supporters say, Webber would have been right beside him at pretty much every race -much like it was for Rubens with Schumi . The fact that didn't happen tells me that it's more than just the car.

 

Actually I read it as him saying that Vettel's performance was even more shocking because he was able to outpace Webber in a Red Bull... He was crediting Vettel with even more because of, not in spite of Webber's considerable talents...

How many races would Webber have won had it not been for Vettel?

 

I know of at least one: "Multi 2-1".