Interesting article here about Vettel, Button and Alonso:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/...cle3238954.ece

 

Only available to subscribers as far as I can tell.

 

Here is the text of the Article by Kevin Eason

"The three drivers that head the World Championship share levels of intelligence that mark them out from the crowd
The secrets of success are contained in a scruffy notebook buried in Sebastian Vettel’s rucksack. The jotter would probably be a goldmine for prying and envious eyes at other teams, because it contains the private thoughts and analysis of Formula One’s two-times world champion.
After each race, he processes what happened to him, his car and the track, and it will be just the same in the hours after the Brazilian Grand Prix here tomorrow night; Vettel will scribble away, furiously committing his memory to paper. The German has the fresh face of a schoolboy, but the analytical skills of a super-computer able to translate every twitch of his steering wheel to reason and fact.
The modern Formula One driver is not just a swashbuckling tyro driving to the limits, but a technician wearing overalls instead of a lab coat. It is no surprise, then, that the three drivers at the head of the World Championship table going into the final grand prix of the longest season in the modern era share levels of intelligence that mark them out from the crowd. Jenson Button has Vettel’s analytical skills, as does Fernando Alonso, who has the cool temperament of a Top Gun fighter pilot.
Button showed how he can multitask in Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago, when his McLaren lost its Kinetic Energy Recovery System (Kers). While driving in a flat-out grand prix, harried by Mark Webber’s Red Bull and lacking full speed, he spent lap after lap not just rebooting his Kers, but adjusting the brake balance on his car, the Formula One equivalent of rubbing your stomach, patting your head and playing keepy-uppy at the same time. Little wonder his team were lost in admiration that he salvaged third place.
As dusk fell in the Interlagos paddock last night, one of Formula One’s top engineers, who did not want to be named because he has worked at close quarters with Button and Vettel, explained the difference between the one-lap hotshot and drivers who think their way to victory.
“I always feel that Sebastian or Jenson use only about 50 per cent of their brain capacity when they drive,” he said. “You find a lot of drivers that are immensely quick, but they have no idea why. They are also using 95 per cent of their brain to drive fast so when something unexpected comes along, they have no spare capacity.
“Look at Jenson and Lewis [Hamilton] this season. Lewis is probably the fastest man in Formula One but you wonder whether he needs 99 per cent of his brain to drive faster than a man using only half that, which explains why he makes mistakes. Look at how few mistakes Jenson and Sebastian make.”
If a driver can make a mistake anywhere, it is at Interlagos, a dramatic natural amphitheatre with its huge changes in elevation — and an ever-present threat of rain. The forecast this weekend is for showers, and a downpour here usually injects chaos.
Vettel might have wrapped up the championship five races ago, but his rivals are scrapping for the honour of being runner-up. Button holds station in second, with Alonso only ten points behind. Webber is the outside bet, but he would have to take victory here on a circuit where he won in 2009; Button had the last laugh that day, though, winning his world championship.
Even if Hamilton, the fastest man in practice yesterday, wins and the rest do not score, he cannot finish higher than third in a race that will mark a watershed for British television viewers."

 

Interesting prospective, makes a lot of sense to me.

Bloomin long wait for race time today.

 

Regrading the article Vettel makes plenty of mistakes when under pressure ... the car he drives is so quick that he just meanders off into the distance and drives within 90% capacity of the car. Regarding Teflonso " Fernando Alonso, who has the cool temperament of a Top Gun fighter pilot." hahahahahahaha don't make me laugh he is a spaniard with the hot head that matches again he has to be under pressure, i just think back to when his team mate was faster than him in the same car, then you saw Alonso's true temprament. Jenson Button is a cool head, and occasionally drives out of his skin.

Intelligence is not really required to be a great driver (sure it will help and most F1 drivers are intelligent, most have to speak a couple of languages and pick things up quickly), however I believe great natural skill and concentration, focus and balls of steel are what matter in F1, and IMO intelligence is definitely NOT what separates the "Top three drivers" from the rest.

By the way i think we could have a good race in Brazil, it's a track that can bite you in the ass and if it rains well that will really set the cat amongst the pigeons.

 

Man that was dull as hell.

Nothing to race for clearly. At least Button was able to get past Teflonso towards the end with a fantastic move that started going into turn 1 and then nailed in through the DRS zone

Just read that Brundle will be switching over to Sky next year

 

Brasil is never the same unless the drivers championship can be won or lost here. Seemed to me to be a bit of a display race, the only thing that livened it up was the thought that there was another opportunity for Lewis and Massa to take each other out again. I thought Massa didn't look too impressed with his BBC "Naughty Boy" award.

Hopefully the gains MclAren and Ferrari have made in the latter part of the season can help them get a bit closer to the Red Bulls next year. Now who do I know with Sky Sports....bu**ered if I'm going to pay for a channel I will only watch for just the F1 races.

Sad to see MB turn his back on BBC, I thought they had a cracking team this year....even with EJ. It will be interesting to see who BBC line up for the grid walk.

So now got to find something to do with my Sunday afternoons again.....perhaps all that DIY will get done now..

 

Just been reading the SkyF1 website, free F1 channel is you subscribe to Sky Sports 1+2 or(as I read it) Sky+HD package, so if it the later I will get to see all the F1 live, I'm sure someone must have the definitive answer.
Agree with the comments on the race, although watching it whilst eating a plate of fish stew(yum) made it not so bad, tea time racing .

 

It's a bit confusingly written, but as I have SkyHD I hope it's the latter and I'll just get it.

I've also read that the BBC and Sky will be sharing commentary. So maybe everyone will get Brundle after all. But you can understand it from his point of view; he wants to cover F1 and if the BBC aren't fully committed then you can't blame him for looking elsewhere.

I think I prefer the later afternoon races, so if the BBC are doing a 5pm highlights show that sounds quite good (when I heard "highlights" I assumed it was back to 1am on BBC3 or something). Also I haven't got up for any of the early races this year, so watching them at lunch time isn't bad either. Spoilt for choice.

The race was a bit processional, though I did enjoy Button hunting down Vettel at the end, and Hamilton battling with Massa. But Interlagos is such a great track; it's one where I never get bored of watching F1 cars.

 

Yeah for me too, it's almost like a go kart track where you can almost see the whole thing from certain angles, race was a bit processional as you say, Button did a great move on Alonso ... I think ... if Mercedes can get their act together Nico Rosberg will be great and one to watch next season. I just hope the ban of blown diffusers will negate some of the advantage that redbull has for next year .... somehow I don't think it will ... Newey is at the top of his game it seems ... i think he should be forced to move to a different team every five years!

March it is then until the next one, see you there !