We may not agree on this, but it's nonetheless intriguing to discuss it, personally I think Vettel is a really good driver, but in my view he is not exceptional. He is faster than his team mate, but I wonder how much of that is down to the team, yeah I know another conspiracy theory but that is what I believe. He is certainly not (in my view) in the Prost Senna league, and regarding the Mansell comparison, I think you can determine that from a team point of view ... Williams v RedBull ... but there is no comparison between Vettel and Mansell, Kobayashi and Mansell perhaps.

Look at last year and Jenson, now he is also a really good driver, and he had a massively dominant car the first half of the season. He won many races but I was certainly not calling for him to be heir apparent to Schumacher, or Prost, or Senna ... if and when Vettel wins races regularly from behind then I will look at him differently, but right now it is the car and the design genius of Adrian Newey that is making the rest of F1 look silly, not Vettel.

Just my view

I just want to add that if Ferrari show the same improvement then we could well see the dominance shift for the remainder of the season, and just like the British GP I suspect we won't see Vettel winning all the races ... of course with his current lead all he has to do now is come in second or third and he will win the championship again this year without any pressure cest la vie ... I need to see him under pressure more, and on a more level play-field before I start to rate him as highly as some here do.

 

Good post. I disagree with you, I think Vettel is pretty special and a good driver on his own but fair points nevertheless.

I hope McLaren buck their ideas up soon so that JB and LH can start challenging Teflonso and Vettel.

 

Best the other teams start pulling their fingers out then!!

 

I agree, he's not in the same league..


one higher..



joking aside, you are right that he has to show a lot more race-craft to put him in the hall of fame, but there are plenty of drivers who come into F1 with a lot more experience, hype and fanfare and have not got out of first gear.. he clearly has the raw speed and plenty of brains to learn - and without all the playboy trappings to distract him. Hence, he will go far.

 

The similarities betwwen Mansell's 92 winning season are quite striking as you can see when you compare race results with starting positions.

This web site is excellent

http://f1-facts.com/results/season/1992

Hamilton's championship stats show a very different trend

http://f1-facts.com/results/season/2008

 

heh heh damn straight .. I just wish red bull would hire a brit driver, JB would get my vote

Enjoy it Matt, times will change ... eventually ... as you are well aware ... actually I am not so sure ... Williams were a long time at the top of the tree with Newey there, perhaps he should be banned by the FIA ?

 

As long as its not Hamilton, i can't stand the bloke!! JB would be my choice too.

I am enjoying the high at the mo as the last 10 years Stewart (They did have a race win though) and Jag were dire. It nice to know your work is winning stuff.

 

So the F1 express thunders on and we find ourselves at the Nurbergring!



The Circuit



DRS Detection Zone For German Grand Prix 2011: The detection point for DRS wing will start at the entrance to Turn 10.

DRS Activation Zone for German Grand Prix 2011: Drivers will be allowed to activate the DRS rear wing from the exit of Turn 11.


Session Times:

Friday 22 July: Practice one - 0900-1030; Practice two - 1300-1430

Saturday 23 July: Practice three - 1000-1100; Qualifying - 1300-1400

Sunday 24 July: Race - 1300

Weather:

Friday: Wet
Saturday: Cloudy with sunny spells
Sunday: Cloudy with a chance of rain

I think the Nurbergring is a great track and normally provides a good race, the DRS zone here looks to be very small so it will probably be more 'proper' overtaking than using the DRS. So again, this will favour RBR as they have the fastest car and overtaking is difficult. Looks like an interesting race!

Graham

 

Not so much eventually. Only third and fourth, and Vettel's performance can only be described as lacklustre when it didn't go right for him.

Have we reached a real turning point, or is it just about the temperature?

 

I think it is just the temps, but equally I think McMerc and Ferrari have much better pace on the Red Bulls than the first half of the season. Still not sure it is enough to challenge in qualifying, but I think RBR might be in trouble for race pace...especially if Pirelli have changed the tyres to last longer.

Great race today, good to see Hamilton back on form.