The Official Sebastian Vettel Fan Support Group Thread

[jens]

Can I just say

Where is Garry Walker when you need him.

I don't know, what Garry is up to and whether he still watches F1, but in the time of glory it is important to remember those, who are suffering as well. Garry, world may be tough and unfair, but you'll pull through and I guarantee you already the next race will be much better.

[Warriwa]

In a way I find it quite amusing that Vettel has got a personal "Fan" thread here on this forum. I am unsure, what the initial motivations were, when this thread was created, but discussion has developed pretty nicely here over time!

There used to be a thread titled "Vettel and his personality". A moderator deemed it to be too 'negative' so they discontinued that discussion. There were also a lot of positive comments and some lively debates in that thread. If the moderators want to be consistent they should also close this thread for being too 'positive', or reopen the old thread.
Regardless if we agree with another's opinion, we should not censor an entire thread on a public forum.

[kfzmeister]

Not sure that it has been mentioned, but if i were SEB, i'd be glad that i left RB when i did. For cryin outloud that ship is taking on water FAST!

[The Black Knight]

Can't remember if I've ever even posted in this thread. I do like Seb - he's a good guy, but I think he has been either very smart or very lucky in his career choices. I'll never rate him as one of the greats, especially given the pasting he got from his teammate last year - the one year he actually had a chance to prove himself and he didn't. Now he has lucked into a Ferrari resurgence. Maybe he'll win a WDC with them but, I'm afraid the chance to prove himself as a great (last year and like Alonso did in 2012) has probably come and gone.

[Big Ben]

Honestly I think he switched teams either because he wanted a change or because another season behind Ricciardo would have damaged his image even more. I would say a little bit of both. I have somehow doubts he foresaw the evolutions of both RBR or Ferrari. Did anyone really?

[jens]

Honestly I think he switched teams either because he wanted a change or because another season behind Ricciardo would have damaged his image even more. I would say a little bit of both. I have somehow doubts he foresaw the evolutions of both RBR or Ferrari. Did anyone really?

One thing is that Vettel wanted to drive Ferrari already a long time ago, it was his dream. So it was about timing the right moment. When you achieved already everything and even "more than enough" (which 4 WDCs is), and there is an opening in Ferrari (Alonso was on his way out), it was a perfect moment to switch.

As for insider knowledge of team competitiveness. Vettel saw that Red Bull (or more likely Renault) had lost ground with new regs and Newey was going to retire. It wasn't so much about RBR being as bad as now, but generally their golden days (4 consecutive titles) were over.

I don't really think he could have expected Ferrari to be that good already, but he signed with them on the back of a long-term plan. For 3-5 years and then let's see, what comes out of it. I think the first two races of 2015 have exceeded expectations. Generally - Ferrari is a legendary team and in a way pretty consistent - "thereabouts" all the time, even if not quite at the top. So it is not like Vettel was signing with a potential backmarker team. Signing for, say, McLaren-Honda would have contained far more risks. Because "McLaren-Honda" package contains more unknown factors, Ferrari has less unknowns.

We can remember, how Hamilton switched teams back in 2012. I am not sure he had clear evidence McLaren was going to drop back so spectacularly, but he must have been convinced that the Mercedes project is a good one long-term, regardless of what happens to McLaren.

As for Ricciardo. Everyone has to manage their careers as well as they can. If you can be a #1 driver in a legendary team, you'll go for it. Especially as Red Bull is/was "been there, done that". Had there been no Ricciardo and Vettel had beaten Webber yet again 2014, I think he would still have been looking for ways to exit Red Bull. Drivers want change.

Mind you, I would not rule out the possibility Ricciardo might become Vettel's team-mate again in the next few years, this time in Ferrari. Räikkönen is not going to stay around forever and Ricciardo is on my list among the next drivers, who could possibly start "looking for a change", especially if the RBR project doesn't work out any more.

[Tazio]

"Jense" diss'ing Seb:

Jenson Button believes Sebastian Vettel is lucky to have found himself driving a more competitive Ferrari, suggesting Fernando Alonso would have achieved the same had he stayed.

Vettel, in only his second race with Ferrari, claimed victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix after comfortably out-performing Mercedes, marking the first time the Scuderia has won a race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

A historic success for Vettel, who has now notched up 40 F1 career wins, Button is more skeptical about the effect the driver itself had on returning Ferrari to success, saying 'sometimes things work out for you'.

“He has definitely lucked into a situation, I would say," Button told the Daily Mail.

“It is one of those situations which sometimes works out for you, for example [Daniel] Ricciardo was overtaken by his new team-mate [Kvyat], and lapped by his ex-team-mate on the same lap. Who would have thought that at the end of last year? So sometimes you do luck into a situation."

JB can be a real cut-up!

[The Black Knight]

"Jense" diss'ing Seb:


JB can be a real cut-up!

Which part of what he said is incorrect? It's true really. It's not like he had much input into the car design. I guess you make your own luck but between RBR and Ferrari now, Seb certainly has had a lot of it! Not take anything away from him, he took the decisions that benefited him at the right time as all top drivers must do but, as we saw last year, unless the car suits him, he certainly isn't capable of driving around things. He was lucky in this decision, yes, but he was also smart I guess

[airshifter]

Well after winning 4 consecutive WDCs, even if in a great car, I would hardly call it luck. Granted he did get beat by Ricciardo the following year, but often WDCs are won in cars where both drivers finish at the pointy end of the pack. Similar to Rubens finishing in 3rd when Jenson got his title in 2009.

Not to take anything from either driver, but Jenson saying this after going from a what.... 16th place finish in the 2008 Honda and then walking into the most dominant car in recent history. Well that's some stuff Jenson!

[jens]

Well after winning 4 consecutive WDCs, even if in a great car, I would hardly call it luck. Granted he did get beat by Ricciardo the following year, but often WDCs are won in cars where both drivers finish at the pointy end of the pack. Similar to Rubens finishing in 3rd when Jenson got his title in 2009.

Not to take anything from either driver, but Jenson saying this after going from a what.... 16th place finish in the 2008 Honda and then walking into the most dominant car in recent history. Well that's some stuff Jenson!

Sure Jenson is talking from his own experience, since he must have been as surprised as anybody to get a car as fantastic as the 2009 Brawn out of nowhere.

This is not dissing anybody, just that life is what it is.

I don't think Button is dissing Vettel either. He is just telling how he understand the situation, when microphone was put in front of him. People just read too much into driver's comments. I think real "dissing" takes place on Internet forums, not among drivers.

But on the forums people go like "omg he said that, now it is WAR!" In the end the real war is fought among fanboys...