Vettel quite impressive !!

[karimbo]

If you check out the web site:

www.sebastianvettel.de

It's in German but if you look at the galerien or bildegalerien you see a baby Vettel pictured with MS (the Emperor Himself!!!) and with Doktor Thiessen. Thiessen likes Kubica but ADORES Vettel. IMO Vettel is not a danger... for this year! Next year 3rd cars will not be allowed (new rules). He will probably race in Lewis Hamilton's car (ASM F3 = ART GP2. There is always Arden Red Bull but ART is more competitive.) Next year he will probably win the GP2 championship right away (like Lewis, he really is exeptional) and then, since he is sponsored by Red Bull, he will probably bump a Red Bull driver. (Sorry Webber, sorry DC). And in 2008, depending on his 2007 year, he will probably join BMW. Who will he pair? Dunno. Kubica has a contract for 2007 and will race there. But he might impress many people and get an impre$$$$ive proposition for 2008.

My friend, if you have (lots of ) time to waste, I suggest you look up this site. I find it fun. You can see very familiar names and names we never heard of. Some will become very famous. Do you follow GP2, WSR or formula 3? They're almost all there. It's funny to see that these guys raced side by side since they were 12 !! Start by 1990, and climb up slowly or do the opposite. You will recognize many of them. Of course, these results are about only one race. So you might see someone dead last but it might be due to mechanical failure or accident. But most of them could have had great careers in F1... very $adly $omething wa$ mi$$ing...

http://www.cikfia.com/web/karting/we...w&Collapse=all

[flor]

Originally Posted by karimbo

In 2004 he was Formula BMW champion winning 18 out of 20 races.

yes and he was on the podium in the other 2 races

[hgmonaro]

he may be 19 but doesn't look a day over 12! good effort regardless of car spec I reckon

[safc_fan89]

If a 19 year old can get into an F1 car and be fastest (albeit with unlimited tyres and so on), what does that say about the cars? For once I agree with ITV in that the cars are too easy to drive. There are so many electronic devices that driver skill has little to do with performance now. Thats not how it should be. I'm a bit concerned. Although it looks like a possible star of the future has been discovered, it's made me a little concerned about the state of F1 at the moment.

[VilleneuveTracy]

I'll check it out when I have some more time, thanks.

Good point, safc. How can F1 claim to be the pinnacle of motorsport when a driver with no experience, even with the joke BMW Friday showboating program, can set the fastest time? Many F1 fans look down on NASCAR but you would never see a 19 year old come out the blue to run the fastest in any session...

One thing we have to bear in mind with these new hyped drivers is that everyone in F1 had a great record in lower formula. That is how they got to F1. Yet, there are only two World Champions on the grid this weekend. What happened to the touted "greatness" of the rest? Most of them have never even won a F1 race. Two have one win each and Fisi has three fluke wins. Only a handful became significant winners; few contended for the WDC; two become World Champion.

Mark my words, most of these new drivers will not live up to the hype. Hype surrounds new people in all sports (i.e. all NBA players were great basketball players in high school and college. how many became Michael Jordan?) but in racing it takes another level, and apparently F1 takes it to an even higher level than NASCAR. F1 seems to be obssessed with looking for the next MS or Senna. Let's face it. There are always a few WDC caliber drivers on the grid, a few WDC's, and even less "great" drivers. That will not change in the coming years...the new cohort will not be any better than the cohorts from 1996, 1986, 1966, etc.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Speaking of BMW's Friday hotshots, where did Kubica's speed suddenly go?

[kipper]

Originally Posted by safc_fan89

If a 19 year old can get into an F1 car and be fastest (albeit with unlimited tyres and so on), what does that say about the cars? For once I agree with ITV in that the cars are too easy to drive.

I'd agree that Vettel's performances, given his lack of experience do suggest that F1 needs to cut down the amount of electronic systems at work. With regard to Vettel's performance, one day in a Formula 1 car can only go so far in determining the level of potential that a driver has.

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Mark my words, most of these new drivers will not live up to the hype. Hype surrounds new people in all sports.

I agree, in F1 perceptions seem to be exceedingly important in making decisions. Also so much of a driver's career depends on luck that one ill timed move to a different team can mean the difference between being labelled as 'the next big thing' or being regarded as a midfield runner.

[LongJohnSilver]

Nobody was saying that his testing times were bad, just that the difference between the two performances is fishy. What has he done between Jul 5th (his 2nd test btw: forix reports that he had a BMW Williams test last September) and August 25th that allowed him to find such gains?

[Adam43]

I think the title of this thread sums it up. On one hand it was two exclamation marks!! On the other hand it contains the word "quite".

[kipper]

Originally Posted by LongJohnSilver

Nobody was saying that his testing times were bad, just that the difference between the two performances is fishy. What has he done between Jul 5th (his 2nd test btw: forix reports that he had a BMW Williams test last September) and August 25th that allowed him to find such gains?

In my view, it is difficult to compare the two situations. The problem is that in testing conditions it is difficult to ascertain how many laps a driver had, the specification of their car relative to their team mates and other teams, the fuel loads of the car and the weather conditions when that particular driver was doing their running. With regard to Friday practice, then as is well documented, a third driver has fewer constraints over tyres and revs meaning that they can go quicker than race drivers in cars that would normally be ahead of the driver in question.

[Knowlesy]

Glad to see we have reached the topic of the thread at long last!

I have to say, the point that Vettels fairly impressive performance proves F1 cars are too easy to drive is a reasonable one. However, I was thinking that we see guys not much older than Vettel winning the GP2 championships in cars that are supposedly a bigger challenge to drive due to the lack of aids.

Having said that, F1 cars could be much harder to drive.

Still, it takes some talent to peddle a lap like that round Istanbul Park at the first attempt even though we don't know the variables in play.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Good point, safc. How can F1 claim to be the pinnacle of motorsport when a driver with no experience, even with the joke BMW Friday showboating program, can set the fastest time? Many F1 fans look down on NASCAR but you would never see a 19 year old come out the blue to run the fastest in any session...

Ah, VilleneuveTracy, how unfair. As somebody pointed out brilliantly,the rules and the specs remain the same from the start of the season, and pretty much the opposite can be said to other drivers. All in all it's just to way you see it.

[LongJohnSilver]

Another interesting bit of history:
http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/54006

Apparently Vettel broke the pitlane speed limit just 9 seconds after Friday's first session started. He was fined as a result?

Does Bavarian Motor Works pick up that bill?